Impact of fibre and red/processed meat intake on treatment outcomes among patients with chronic inflammatory diseases initiating biological therapy: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Biologic disease-modifying drugs have revolutionised the treatment of a number of chronic inflammatory diseases (CID). However, up to 60% of the patients do not have a sufficient response to treatment and there is a need for optimization of treatment strategies. Objective: To investigate if the treatment outcome of biological therapy is associated with the habitual dietary intake of fibre and red/processed meat in patients with a CID. Methods: In this multicentre prospective cohort study, we consecutively enrolled 233 adult patients with a diagnosis of Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Axial Spondyloarthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Psoriasis, for whom biologic therapy was planned, over a 3 year period. Patients with completed baseline food frequency questionnaires were stratified into a high fibre/low red and processed meat exposed group (HFLM) and an unexposed group (low fibre/high red and processed meat intake = LFHM). The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with a clinical response to biologic therapy after 14-16 weeks of treatment. Results: Of the 193 patients included in our primary analysis, 114 (59%) had a clinical response to biologic therapy. In the HFLM group (N = 64), 41 (64%) patients responded to treatment compared to 73 (56%) in the LFHM group (N = 129), but the difference was not statistically significant (OR: 1.48, 0.72-3.05). For RA patients however, HFLM diet was associated with a more likely clinical response (82% vs. 35%; OR: 9.84, 1.35-71.56). Conclusion: Habitual HFLM intake did not affect the clinical response to biological treatment across CIDs. HFLM diet in RA patients might be associated with better odds for responding to biological treatment, but this would need confirmation in a randomised trial. Trial registration: (clinicaltrials.gov), identifier [NCT03173144].

The use of 5-aminosalicylate for patients with Crohn's disease in a prospective European inception cohort with 5 years follow-up - an Epi-IBD study.

BACKGROUND: The lack of scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of 5-aminosalicylate in patients with Crohn's disease is in sharp contrast to its widespread use in clinical practice. AIMS: The aim of the study was to investigate the use of 5-aminosalicylate in patients with Crohn's disease as well as the disease course of a subgroup of patients who were treated with 5-aminosalicylate as maintenance monotherapy during the first year of disease. METHODS: In a European community-based inception cohort, 488 patients with Crohn's disease were followed from the time of their diagnosis. Information on clinical data, demographics, disease activity, medical therapy and rates of surgery, cancers and deaths was collected prospectively. Patient management was left to the discretion of the treating gastroenterologists. RESULTS: Overall, 292 (60%) patients with Crohn's disease received 5-aminosalicylate period during follow-up for a median duration of 28 months (interquartile range 6-60). Of these, 78 (16%) patients received 5-aminosalicylate monotherapy during the first year following diagnosis. Patients who received monotherapy with 5-aminosalicylate experienced a mild disease course with only nine (12%) who required hospitalization, surgery, or developed stricturing or penetrating disease, and most never needed more intensive therapy. The remaining 214 patients were treated with 5-aminosalicylate as the first maintenance drug although most eventually needed to step up to other treatments including immunomodulators (75 (35%)), biological therapy (49 (23%)) or surgery (38 (18%)). CONCLUSION: In this European community-based inception cohort of unselected Crohn's disease patients, 5-aminosalicylate was commonly used. A substantial group of these patients experienced a quiescent disease course without need of additional treatment during follow-up. Therefore, despite the controversy regarding the efficacy of 5-aminosalicylate in Crohn's disease, its use seems to result in a satisfying disease course for both patients and physicians.

A Proposal for a Study on Treatment Selection and Lifestyle Recommendations in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: A Danish Multidisciplinary Collaboration on Prognostic Factors and Personalised Medicine.

Chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel diseases, IBD), rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritides, hidradenitis suppurativa, and immune-mediated uveitis, are treated with biologics targeting the pro-inflammatory molecule tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF) (i.e., TNF inhibitors). Approximately one-third of the patients do not respond to the treatment. Genetics and lifestyle may affect the treatment results. The aims of this multidisciplinary collaboration are to identify (1) molecular signatures of prognostic value to help tailor treatment decisions to an individual likely to initiate TNF inhibitor therapy, followed by (2) lifestyle factors that support achievement of optimised treatment outcome. This report describes the establishment of a cohort that aims to obtain this information. Clinical data including lifestyle and treatment response and biological specimens (blood, faeces, urine, and, in IBD patients, intestinal biopsies) are sampled prior to and while on TNF inhibitor therapy. Both hypothesis-driven and data-driven analyses will be performed according to pre-specified protocols including pathway analyses resulting from candidate gene expression analyses and global approaches (e.g., metabolomics, metagenomics, proteomics). The final purpose is to improve the lives of patients suffering from CIDs, by providing tools facilitating treatment selection and dietary recommendations likely to improve the clinical outcome.