Effect of Exclusive Enteral Nutrition on the Disease Process, Nutritional Status, and Gastrointestinal Microbiota for Chinese Children With Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to prospectively study the effect of exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) treatment on Chinese pediatric Crohn's disease (CD) patients. METHODS Thirty-one newly diagnosed CD patients were enrolled in this study and treated with EEN for 8 weeks. Twelve healthy controls (HCs) donated their fecal samples. Statistical methods were used to compare the differences. RESULTS According to the Simple Endoscopic Score for CD (SES-CD) at the end of the EEN treatment, 21 patients whose SES-CD ≤ 4 were classified into the remission group (CD-RE), 10 patients whose SES-CD > 4 were classified into the non-remission group (CD-NRE). After EEN therapy, there was a significant decrease in the SES-CD, the weighted Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (wPCDAI) and fecal calprotectin (FCP) in the CD-RE group (all P < 0.001). The wPCDAI and FCP also decreased in the CD-NRE group (both P < 0.05). In terms of nutritional improvement, the CD-RE group patients showed more improvement in weight gain, hemoglobin and albumin levels than the CD-NRE group patients (all P < 0.05). For the microbiota, the CD patients had a lower bacterial diversity and different bacterial community compared with HCs. EEN increased overall diversity and was able to shift the dysbiosis in CD patients toward a healthier state. Absence of improvement in wPCDAI and Shannon index at 2 weeks predict poor response at the end of EEN. CONCLUSION EEN can be used in most Chinese pediatric CD patients to induce remission and improve nutrition. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.