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. 2025 Feb 4;19(2):jjaf018.
doi: 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjaf018.

A pro-inflammatory diet is associated with growth and virulence of Escherichia coli in pediatric Crohn's disease

Jessica Breton  1 , Vincent Tu  1 , Ceylan Tanes  1 , Naomi Wilson  1 , Ryan Quinn  2 , Kelly Kachelries  1 , Elliot S Friedman  3 , Kyle Bittinger  1 , Robert N Baldassano  1 , Charlene Compher  2 , Lindsey Albenberg  1
Affiliations

A pro-inflammatory diet is associated with growth and virulence of Escherichia coli in pediatric Crohn's disease

Jessica Breton et al. J Crohns Colitis. .

Abstract

Background and aims: Epidemiological studies have suggested an association between the inflammatory potential of dietary patterns and Crohn's disease (CD). However, the relationships of these inflammatory dietary determinants with the microbiome remain largely unknown. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluate the association between the inflammatory potential of habitual diet, as assessed by the modified Children-Dietary Inflammatory Index (mC-DII), and the fecal microbiome and metabolome of children with CD in comparison to healthy children.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including 51 children with CD between 6 and 18 years of age and 50 healthy controls was conducted. Dietary inflammatory potential was measured using the mC-DII, and diet quality was assessed by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 and alternate Mediterranean Eating Index (aMed). The microbiome was analyzed using shotgun metagenomic sequencing and untargeted metabolomic analysis.

Results: A poor-quality, pro-inflammatory diet, with similar mC-DII, HEI-2015, and aMed scores, was found across healthy children and children with CD. In children with active disease, a pro-inflammatory diet was associated with decreased diversity, increased virulence potential, and expansion of the Proteobacteria phylum dominated by Escherichia coli (E. coli) spp. A positive correlation between E. coli relative abundance and mC-DII was associated with a low intake of a cluster composed of fibers, vitamins, and minerals with anti-inflammatory potential. A negative association between metabolites of fatty acid metabolism and HEI was found.

Conclusions: In total, our results suggest that a pro-inflammatory diet may potentiate hallmarks of the inflammation-associated dysbiosis in CD and highlight the need for microbiome-targeted dietary interventions optimizing the anti-inflammatory potential of habitual diet in the management of pediatric CD.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; diet; microbiome.

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