Nutrition in inflammatory bowel disease

Nutrition is an important aspect of the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Components of the diet and the nutritional status of an individual patient may impact on IBD, and the diseases themselves may in turn impact on nutritional status. In this review we highlight recent advances in the field of nutrition and IBD. A topic of particular interest over the past year is the effect of nutrients, particularly fish oils and glutamine, on gut inflammation and permeability, bacterial translocation, and cytokine profiles in humans and in experimental models of IBD. It appears that fish oil may be a useful therapeutic agent in the management of Crohn's disease. Over the past year, data from previous trials of enteral feeds for the treatment of Crohn's disease have been summarized in three meta-analyses, and further clinical experience with the long-term use of enteral feeds in pediatric patients has been published. Significant interest continues in the abnormalities of colonocyte metabolism in ulcerative colitis and the role of diminished short-chain fatty acid production or use in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. Several additional reports on the use of topical short-chain fatty acid enemas for the treatment of distal ulcerative colitis have appeared in the literature.