Diffusion weighted imaging to predict longer term response in Crohn's disease patients commencing biological therapy: Results from the MOTILITY Trial.

Objectives: Predicting longer term response to biological therapy for small bowel Crohn's disease (SBCD) is an unmet clinical need. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) may indicate disease activity, but its predictive ability, if any, is unknown. We investigated the prognostic value of DWI for one year response or remission (RoR) in SBCD patients commencing biologic therapy, including incremental value over C-reactive protein (CRP) and faecal calprotectin (FC).

Impact of pain, fatigue and bowel incontinence on the quality of life of people living with inflammatory bowel disease: A UK cross-sectional survey.

Background And Aims: People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often experience pain, fatigue and bowel incontinence and are at an increased risk of anxiety and depression. Our aim was to assess the impact of these symptoms on health-related quality of life (QoL) in IBD.

Methods: In the IBD-BOOST survey, over 26,000 people with IBD across the UK were approached; 8486 participant-completed surveys were returned.

HLA-DQA1-HLA-DRB1 variants confer susceptibility to pancreatitis induced by thiopurine immunosuppressants.

Pancreatitis occurs in approximately 4% of patients treated with the thiopurines azathioprine or mercaptopurine. Its development is unpredictable and almost always leads to drug withdrawal. We identified patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who had developed pancreatitis within 3 months of starting these drugs from 168 sites around the world.

The microbiome in inflammatory bowel disease and beyond.

The diverse and complex community of microorganisms that has co-evolved with the human gut is vital to intestinal functioning, and disturbances in the microbiota and its relationship with the host immune system have been linked to inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. This has suggested several treatment options, including antibiotics, probiotics and faecal transplantation. The human microbiome project has been established to enable comprehensive characterisation of the human microbiota and in the coming years, knowledge in this area is expected to continue to expand.