Gabriele Dragoni © ECCO

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

The Y-ECCO Mentorship Forum is an educational event designed to foster networking and prepare the career of young gastroenterologists with a particular interest in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. In June 2023, the second edition of the Forum took place in beautiful Vienna, and it certainly did not disappoint.

Anti-integrin αvβ6 autoantibodies are a novel biomarker that antedate ulcerative colitis

Livanos AE, Dunn A, Fischer J, et al.

Gastroenterology 2023;164:619–29. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2022.12.042.

Introduction

Biomarkers for the prediction of disease onset and disease course in Ulcerative Colitis (UC) represent an ongoing and important area of unmet need. However, discovery and validation of such biomarkers has been complicated by the wide heterogeneity in disease presentation and variability in disease course [1]. Despite many initial biomarker discovery efforts in UC focusing on biopsy-based approaches, it has increasingly been recognised that non-invasive blood-based biomarkers would likely have more clinical utility, including because of their ease of collection and high rates of patient acceptance [2, 3].

Previous studies have discovered a novel autoantibody against integrin αvβ6 (anti-αvβ6) in the serum of UC patients, with strong discriminative ability for diagnosis of UC. Integrin αvβ6 plays a critical role in maintaining epithelial barrier integrity and suppressing epithelial inflammation [4–7].

Faecal microbiota transplantation with anti-inflammatory diet (FMT-AID) followed by anti-inflammatory diet alone is effective in inducing and maintaining remission over 1 year in mild to moderate ulcerative colitis: a randomised controlled trial

Kedia S, Virmani S, Vuyyuru SK, et al.

Gut 2022;71:2401–13. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2022-327811.

Introduction

Microbiota are known to play a role in the pathogenesis of both Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD). Various lifestyle factors, including rural living, absence of antibiotic exposure and larger family size, have been associated with greater microbial diversity and lower risk for development of IBD [1, 2]. Conversely, dietary patterns and constituent elements of the diet have been linked to dysbiosis and increased risk of IBD [3, 4]. Despite these associations, the causal relationship between microbiota disturbance and IBD pathogenesis/disease flares remains unclear.

Current therapeutic strategies for IBD primarily focus on targeting the dysregulated immune response. However, these approaches have limitations, including a “ceiling effect” of current treatments and a high risk of relapse following withdrawal of therapy [5]. Consequently, there has been a growing interest in exploring alternative interventions, including through modulation of the gut microbiota or manipulation of dietary factors. Most of the evidence for such therapeutic approaches has focused on CD, including with the use of exclusive enteral nutrition [6]. In UC, microbiota modification has been attempted by faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in cohort studies and in randomised controlled trials. However, heterogeneous protocols, methods, donors, doses and intervals of FMT have all likely contributed to the conflicting evidence base for FMT in UC. Notably, however, a recent meta-analysis has suggested an overall clinical and endoscopic benefit of FMT, at least in the short term, in the treatment of UC [7].

Filgotinib for the treatment of small bowel Crohn’s disease: The DIVERGENCE 1 Trial

D’Haens GR, Lee S, Taylor SA, Serone A, Rimola J, Colombel JF; DIVERGENCE 1 Study Group.

Gastroenterology 2023;165:289–92.e3. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2023.03.234.

Introduction

Despite an increasing number of therapeutic options for patients with Crohn's Disease (CD), one-third of individuals develop intolerance or lose response to current pharmacological treatments, and up to half of patients require surgery within ten years of diagnosis. One of the reasons often highlighted for such figures has been the increasing understanding that different sub-types of CD may require different treatment approaches. Indeed, multiple clinical and molecular studies in recent years have demonstrated the differences between ileal and colonic CD in terms of pathophysiological mechanisms [1], as well as clinical features such as disease progression and treatment efficacy. In fact, although there is a lack of reported data on the comparative efficacy of biologics in achieving segment-specific healing in CD [2], evidence from observational studies and post-hoc analyses of interventional trials has shown that deep ulcers in the ileum are more challenging to heal than those located in the colon [3], with rates of endoscopic healing after one year of therapy ranging from 19% to 38% [4].

Dear Y-ECCO Friends,

I trust that you have all had at least some time for rest and relaxation over the summer. It has been an eventful time for the Y-ECCO Committee as well as the delegates and faculty who joined us for our second Y-ECCO Mentorship Forum in Vienna in July. I think it is fair to say that the event was a success, and we even managed a strike or two at the bowling ice-breaker event the evening before! If this sounds like something that may be of interest to you, I’d highly recommend reading the full write-up by Y-ECCO Committee Member, Gabriele Dragoni, in this edition of ECCO News. Our next Y-ECCO Mentorship Forum is planned for summer 2025 and, with your participation, it would be great to see the initiative continue to grow.

Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEO-IBD) is a complex subset of IBD that uniquely affects children under six years of age [1]. This category includes neonatal onset (within the first month of life), infantile onset (before two years) and early childhood onset (between two and six years) [2]. In comparison with patients with older onset IBD, those with VEO-IBD demonstrate a more heterogeneous phenotype and the aetiology is more closely related (in approximately 25%–30% of cases) to monogenic or digenic defects involving genes associated with primary immunodeficiency [3]. Moreover, VEO-IBD patients show higher rates of positive family history, a more aggressive clinical trajectory and increased resistance to conventional therapies effective in managing IBD among older patients [4].

Firas Rinawi © Firas Rinawi

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is less common in paediatrics than in adults, affecting 0.2–1.5 per 100,000 children (~20% the prevalence in adults). Those diagnosed in childhood are typically older than ten years, and there is a male predilection [1]. The aetiology of PSC is likely a multifactorial combination of an inherited predisposition, gut microbiome, gut–liver communication, bile homeostasis and downstream effects on the immune system which lead to biliary inflammation and fibrosis [2].

How do you make a surgeon? Not by the preliminaries, the 6-7 years of medical college and the years that follow in residency training, but by the six or seven years subsequently spent after medical school learning the surgical trade. Exactly what happens in this apprenticeship that transforms him\her from a helpless, frightened medical school graduate into a (hopefully) capable and confident surgeon?

Up to one-third of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) have persistent bowel symptoms despite apparent control of intestinal inflammation [1]. These symptoms fit with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a type of disorder of gut–brain interactions (DGBI). DGBI respond poorly to the pharmacological agents that are typically used to target inflammation in IBD. Thus, as clinicians, our challenges are to identify IBS-like symptoms, which is more easily achieved in those with quiescent disease, and to find suitable treatments for control of non-inflammatory symptoms.

Wladzia Czuber-Dochan  © ECCO

Marie Andersson © ECCO

It is that time of year when we write to tell you, with great pleasure, about the N-ECCO Activities scheduled for the 19^th Congress of ECCO, to be held on February 21–24, 2024, in Stockholm, Sweden. As in previous years, the N-ECCO Committee has worked hard to put together a broad programme covering clinical, educational and research topics.