P037 - FAECALIBACTERIUM IS INCREASED IN PATIENTS WITH CROHN’S DISEASE ON A LOW FIBER DIET
(Room Poster Hall)
19 Jan 18
5:30 PM
-
7:00 PM
Tracks:
Clinical and Research Challenges
Background: Patients with fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease (CD) are commonly advised to avoid fiber during symptomatic episodes. Fiber intake modulates the intestinal microbiota composition. The influence of low fiber diets in patients with Crohn’s disease on the intestinal microbiota composition is unknown. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study using the National Institutes of Health Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Multi’Omics Database. We identified patients with CD and limited our analysis to their baseline visit. We categorized patients into either high or low fiber intake based on their food frequency questionnaire responses. These patients had linked fecal microbiome data that was generated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. QIIME and LEfSe were used to compare the low and high fiber intake groups to identify differentially abundant microbiota. Results: Our study included 8 patients with Crohn’s disease with 4 in each fiber intake group. The mean age of patients in the high fiber group was 32 and the low fiber group was 14. A greater proportion of male patients were in the high fiber group (50%) compared to the low fiber group (25%). The microbiota richness, alpha and beta diversity were similar between the high and low fiber groups. The higher order taxonomic groups were similar, but LEfSe analysis revealed a fourfold increase in the genus Faecalibacterium among patients in the low fiber intake group. No other genera were found to be statistically different. Conclusion: Faecalibacterium was increased in patients on a low fiber diet. Faecalibacterium produces anti-inflammatory short chain fatty acids from dietary fiber and its decrease has been linked with an increased risk for flares. Further studies are needed to understand the interaction between diet, microbiota and inflammation in patients with CD.