P082 Spicy food is a vital trigger for relapse in patient with inflammatory bowel disease

Y. Chen, C. Ma, Y. Dang, K. Chen, S. Shen, M. Jiang, Z. Zeng, H. Zhang

West China Hospital, Gastroenterology, Chengdu, China

Background

The dietary is one of the environmental triggers for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We investigated which types of food can induce the relapse and worsen the symptoms in IBD patients through the epidemiologic study, and then explored the underlying mechanisms in an animal study.

Methods

A questionnaire assessing demographics, dietary habits and relapse-associated risk factors in patients has been administered to consecutive IBD patients who suffered one or more relapses at West China Hospital from September 2016 to November 2018. The mice with dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced chronic colitis were orally administrated with top one type of risk food. The severity of mice colitis after administration was evaluated by disease activity index (DAI), histology, activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and the level of inflammatory cytokines. The infiltration of immune cells in lamia propria (LP) of mice was analysed by flow cytometry (FCM).

Results

A total of 306 patients participated in the survey, including 188 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and 118 Crohn’s disease (CD) patients. Spicy food ranked first for the relapse in patients with IBD. In particular, 54.3% (n = 102) UC patients and 53.4% (n = 63) CD patients reported that the intake of spicy food could cause a relapse. Fifty per cent UC (n = 94) patients and 40.7% (n = 48) CD patients reported that the intake of spicy food could worsen their symptoms. In the animal study, the oral administration of capsaicin aggravated the chronic colitis in mice, along with the increased activity of MPO and the upregulated level of inflammatory cytokines. The pro-inflammatory effect of capsaicin was dose independent but time dependent. The antagonist for transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), the receptor of capsaicin, could significantly suppress the capsaicin-induced deterioration of colitis. FCM revealed that capsaicin-administration led to the recruitment of multiple types of immune cells in mice LP and the recruitment of neutrophils was the most prominent.

Conclusion

The intake of spicy food can contribute to the relapse and deterioration of symptoms in IBD patients with UC and CD. In mice, the oral administration of capsaicin exacerbated DSS-induced colitis which was characterised by the recruitment of neutrophils, indicating the association between neutrophils and the relapse-triggering effect of capsaicin in colitis.