The effect of solid food diet therapies on the induction and maintenance of remission in Crohn's disease: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of highly restrictive dietary therapies such as exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) in the induction of remission in Crohn's disease (CD) are well established, however, ongoing issues exist with its poor palatability, restrictions, and adherence. The primary aim of this review is to evaluate the current evidence for the efficacy of exclusively solid food diets on the induction and maintenance of clinical and biochemical remission in CD. Secondary aims include impact on endoscopic healing and quality of life. METHODS: A systematic review of all randomised controlled trials (RCTs), open-label randomised trials and head-to-head clinical trials assessing solid food diet intervention in patients with active or inactive Crohn's disease was conducted. Studies included adult and paediatric patients with a verified disease activity index at baseline and follow up (Harvey Bradshaw Index, HBI; Crohn's disease activity index, CDAI and paediatric CDAI, PCDAI). Additional secondary endpoints varied between studies, including endoscopic and biochemical responses, as well as quality of life measures. Two authors independently performed critical appraisals of the studies, including study selection and risk of bias assessments. RESULTS: 14 studies were included for review, with several studies suggesting clinically significant findings. Clinical remission was achieved in a paediatric population undertaking the Mediterranean diet (MD) (moderate risk of bias). In adults, the Crohn's disease exclusion diet (CDED) was comparable to the CDED with partial enteral nutrition (PEN) diet in induction of remission (moderate risk of bias). A low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAP) diet was also shown to decrease symptoms in patients with quiescent or mildly active CD (high risk of bias), however, this was not corroborated by other low FODMAP diet studies. CONCLUSIONS: There are promising outcomes for the MD and CDED in inducing clinical remission in mild to moderate CD. The results need to be interpreted with caution due to design limitations, including issues with combining outcomes among CD and UC patients, and small sample size. The current evidence for solid food dietary therapy in CD is limited by the lack of high quality studies and moderate to high bias. Future well designed studies are needed to confirm their efficacy.

Approach to loss of response to advanced therapies in inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND: Remarkable progress over the last decade has equipped clinicians with many options in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Clinicians now have the unique opportunity to provide individualized treatment that can achieve and sustain remission in many patients. However, issues of primary non-response (PNR) and secondary loss of response (SLOR) to non-tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) therapies remains a common problem. Specific issues include the choice of optimization of therapy, identifying when dose optimization will recapture response, establishing optimal dose for escalation and when to switch therapy. AIM: To explores the issues of PNR and SLOR to non-TNFi therapies. METHODS: This review explores the current evidence and literature to elucidate management options in cases of PNR/SLOR. It will also explore potential predictors for response following SLOR/PNR to therapies including the role of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM). RESULTS: In the setting of PNR and loss of response to alpha-beta7-integrin inhibitors and interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23 inhibitors dose optimization is a reasonable option to capture response. For Janus kinase inhibitors dose optimization can be utilized to recapture response with loss of response. CONCLUSION: The role of TDM in the setting of advanced non-TNFi therapies to identify patients who require dose optimization and as a predictor for clinical remission is not yet established and this remains an area that should be addressed in the future.

Isolated positive deamidated gliadin peptide-IgG has limited diagnostic utility in coeliac disease.

AIM: Deamidated gliadin peptide-IgG (DGP-IgG) antibody serology testing is widely utilised in screening for coeliac disease in Australia; however, it is used sparingly in Europe. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of a positive DGP-IgG in the setting of a negative tissue transglutaminase-IgA (tTG-IgA) for gastrointestinal pathology among paediatric patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all children with an elevated DGP-IgG in the setting of a negative tTG-IgA who underwent gastroscopy over a 48-month period (January 2015-December 2018) at a tertiary paediatric centre. They were identified utilising the electronic pathology database and demographic and clinical data were collected from electronic medical records. Patients who had previously been diagnosed with coeliac disease were on a gluten-free diet or over the age of 18 were excluded from the study. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients with an elevated DGP-IgG in the setting of a negative tTG-IgA underwent gastroscopy. Our study yielded a positive predictive value of 1/26 (3.9% CI 95% 0.7%, 18.9%) for the diagnosis of coeliac disease. Overall, there were 25 histopathological diagnoses including 1 diagnosis of coeliac disease among the total 26 patients who were positive DGP-IgG and negative tTG-IgA and underwent gastroscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that an isolated positive DGP-IgG has a very low diagnostic yield for coeliac disease in children and may be indicative of other gastrointestinal pathology.

Non-diagnostic sonography may reduce negative appendicectomy rate in women when combined with abbreviated Alvarado score.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) remains a clinical one, with selective use of adjunct imaging. Patients with equivocal clinical presentation often undergo a diagnostic laparoscopy. To help reduce negative appendicectomy rates in women, we aimed to develop a simple scoring system based on the Alvarado score (AS) and ultrasound scan (US), as a diagnostic aid for AA in females. METHODS: All patients who underwent appendicectomy for AA at The Alfred Hospital Melbourne between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2017 were included for this case-control study. Logistic regression was used to identify pre-operative parameters predictive of AA. Histopathological identification of AA was interpreted as the gold standard. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics V26. RESULTS: A total of 1194 patients were included, with 26% negative appendicectomy rate in women. Of the 8 parameters in the AS, logistic regression identified migratory pain, leukocytosis and leukocyte left shift as most significant predictors for AA. These three parameters were used in a 3-point test which carried a sensitivity of 92.1% and specificity of 28.7%. In women, a negative or non-diagnostic US improved the negative predictive value of the 3-point test from 57% to 82%. CONCLUSION: The 3-point abbreviated AS in combination with US may be clinically useful in women to exclude appendicitis without diagnostic laparoscopy. Further large-scale prospective studies are required to validate the utility across different subgroups.