Association of Diet and IBD

The prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD] has risen over the past decade to become a global concern. Malnutrition is one of the major issues in patients who suffer from IBD, including both CD and UC. In published studies, approximately three-quarters of patients with active IBD have protein-energy malnutrition . It is a serious concern because it links with a higher risk of infections, weak outcomes, poor prognosis, and bad post-surgical recovery . Nutrition status in IBD plays a vital role since it can alter disease activity and affect morbidity. Not only does malnutrition affect disease activity, but the dietary inflammatory potential of the diet also affects the progression and therapeutic success in IBD patients. The dietary inflammatory potential refers to the ability of a dietary pattern or specific foods to either promote or reduce inflammation in the body. Dietary components may have anti- or pro-inflammatory potentials, which can be evaluated with indices such as the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII). DII stands out for its particular emphasis on the connection between food consumption and the development and aggravation of inflammation. Therefore, it seems sense to assess this relationship in IBD patients. There are, however, few research on the pro-inflammatory potential of diet as determined by dietary indicators and their influence on IBD activity, and the findings are equivocal.

Inflammation and abnormalities in the immune system appear to be a critical factor in the development of IBD. Therefore, noninvasive inflammatory biomarkers may help as a noninvasive, easier accessible way to detect IBD activity state than Colonoscopy, which is the most sensitive and specific diagnostic step for diagnosing and determining the disease activity and severity.

Complete blood count (CBC)-derived inflammatory indices are inexpensive, widely available mathematical formulas. They act as reliable, non-invasive proxy markers for systemic inflammation, disease activity, and immune function by tracking the balance between innate and adaptive immune cells Therefore, in our study, we aim to assess the effect of nutritional status on IBD activity and the role of inflammatory biomarkers as a simple method to determine disease activity.