Journal of Inflammation Research (Mar 2022)

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Improved Clinical Scores and Inflammatory Markers in Children with Active Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Randomized Trial

  • El Amrousy D,
  • Elashry H,
  • Salamah A,
  • Maher S,
  • Abd-Elsalam SM,
  • Hasan S

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 2075 – 2086

Abstract

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Doaa El Amrousy,1 Heba Elashry,2 Abeer Salamah,1 Sara Maher,3 Sherief M Abd-Elsalam,2 Samir Hasan1 1Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt; 2Tropical Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt; 3Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Cairo, EgyptCorrespondence: Sherief M Abd-Elsalam, Tropical Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, El-Giash Street, Tanta, 31527, Egypt, Tel +2-01147773440, Email [email protected]: The Mediterranean diet (MD) is a well-known style of diet that is full of antioxidants and may have anti-inflammatory effects. We evaluated the safety, tolerability, and effects of adherence to MD on disease activity and inflammatory markers in children and adolescents with active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).Methods: This prospective, randomized study included 100 IBD patients aged twelve to eighteen years with mild to moderate disease activity (PCDAI score 10– 45 or PUCAI 10– 64). The included patients were divided into two groups of 50 patients each. Group I (26 patients with active CD and 24 patients with active UC) received MD with good adherence over 12 weeks with a KIDMED 8-point score, and group II (28 patients with active CD and 22 patients with active UC) received their usual diet with a KIDMED score ≤ 7 points. Patients in both groups received treatment similar for IBD activity.Results: Clinical remission was achieved in most of the patients after 12 weeks of treatment. Patients in the first group (adhering to an MD) showed a significant decrease in both clinical scores (PCDAI and PUCAI) and most inflammatory markers (CRP, calprotectin, TNF-α, IL17., IL 12 and IL13) compared to patients in their normal group, with earlier improvement in both PCDAI and CRP.Conclusion: Adherence to the MD improves clinical scores and inflammatory markers in children and adolescents with mild-moderate active IBD.Keywords: inflammatory bowel disease, Mediterranean diet, children, inflammatory markers, cytokines

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