A specific diet regimen is a promising way of managing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the Mediterranean diet (MD) being a likely candidate due to its potential to modulate gut inflammation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate nutritional habits and dietary attitudes of IBD patients, and to assess their adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The study enrolled 50 Crohn’s disease and 44 ulcerative colitis patients, with clinical and laboratory parameters taken. Dietary attitudes were examined, and adherence to MD was assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Service Score (MDSS). Average MDSS score was 6.0 (5.0–7.0), while only nine participants fulfilled criteria for Mediterranean diet adherence. Moreover, all of them were men (p = 0.021). Low percentage of adherence to recommended guidelines was observed for eating olive oil (25.5%), fresh fruit (14.9%), and vegetables (10.6%). Significant positive correlation was observed between total MDSS points and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels (p = 0.002). The majority of the patients (86.2%) considered that a more controlled diet could reduce their IBD symptoms, while 17% visited a nutritionist for diet advice. The majority of patients (84%) would visit educational programs regarding nutrition. In conclusion, adherence to MD was very low, while IBD patients were willing to extend their nutritional knowledge if proper educational programs were organized.

Catestatin (CST) is an important peptide in the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory disorders. However, clinical studies on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients are lacking. Our goal was to investigate CST concentrations in IBD patients compared to healthy subjects. Additionally, we aimed to determine arterial stiffness parameters in relation to CST. This cross-sectional study compared 80 IBD patients (45 Crohn’s disease (CD) and 35 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients) with 75 control subjects. Serum CST levels were significantly higher in the IBD group compared to control subjects (11.29 ± 9.14 vs. 7.13 ± 6.08 ng/mL, p = 0.001) and in the UC group compared to CD patients (13.50 ± 9.58 vs. 9.03 ± 6.92 ng/mL, p = 0.021), irrespective of age and BMI. IBD patients exhibited significantly higher values of heart rate adjusted central augmentation index (cAIx-75) (14.88 ± 10.59 vs. 6.87 ± 9.50 %, p < 0.001) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) (8.06 ± 3.23 vs. 6.42 ± 1.47 m/s, p < 0.001) compared to control group. Furthermore, PWV was the only significant independent correlate of CST (B = 1.20, t = 4.15, p < 0.001), while CST, PWV, cAIx-75, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and BMI were significant predictors of positive IBD status (1.089 (1.022–1.161), 1.515 (1.166–1.968), 1.060 (1.024–1.097), 1.458 (1.116–1.906), 0.793 (0.683–0.920), respectively). Serum CST levels were significantly higher in IBD patients compared to controls and an independent positive correlation of CST with PWV existed. Therefore, it is possible that CST could have a role in the complex pathophysiology of IBD and its cardiovascular complications.

Adropin is a novel peptide mostly associated with energy homeostasis and vascular protection. To our knowledge, there are no studies that investigated its relationship with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The aim of this study was to compare serum adropin levels between 55 patients with IBD (30 Ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, 25 Crohn’s disease (CD) patients) and 50 age/gender matched controls. Furthermore, we explored adropin correlations with IBD severity scores, hsCRP, fecal calprotectin, fasting glucose and insulin levels. Serum adropin levels were significantly lower in patients with IBD in comparison with the control group (2.89 ± 0.94 vs 3.37 ± 0.60 ng/mL, P = 0.002), while there was no significant difference in comparison of UC patients with CD patients (P = 0.585). Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between adropin and fecal calprotectin (r = −0.303, P = 0.025), whereas in the total study population, we found a significant negative correlation with fasting glucose levels (r = −0.222, P = 0.023). A multivariable logistic regression showed that serum adropin was a significant predictor of positive IBD status when enumerated along with baseline characteristics (OR 0.455, 95% CI 0.251–0.823, P = 0.009). Our findings imply that adropin could be involved in complex pathophysiology of IBD, but further larger scale studies are needed to address these findings.

Limited evidence exists regarding cognitive and psychomotor function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Therefore, we aimed to compare the neurocognitive and psychomotor function of 60 IBD patients with 60 age/sex-matched controls. Computer-based instrument Complex Reactinometer Drenovac (CRD) was used for assessment of cognitive domains: convergent thinking (simple mathematical tasks; CRD-11), perceptive abilities (light signal position discrimination; CRD-311) and sophisticated operative thinking (complex psychomotor coordination; CRD-411). The most important analyzed parameters were total test solving time (TTTS); minimal time of particular test solving (TMIN) and total number of wrong reactions (NER). Performance in all three cognitive tests showed statistically significantly longer TTTS and TMIN in IBD patients (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in NER. Aforementioned findings were adjusted for BMI, age and duration of education. Our study has shown impaired neurocognitive and psychomotor function in IBD patients compared to controls, especially in mental processing speed and mental endurance of perceptive abilities, convergent thinking and complex operative thinking.

BACKGROUND Matrix Gla protein (MGP) is a vitamin K dependent peptide which has an established role in suppression of vascular calcification. Recent studies have pointed to a possible link between immunomodulatory effect of MGP and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). AIM To compare plasma levels of dephosphorylated and uncarboxylated MGP (dp-ucMGP) between IBD patients and controls. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted on 70 patients with IBD (30 patients with ulcerative colitis and 40 patients with Crohn’s disease) and 60 age and gender matching healthy controls. Plasma dp-ucMGP levels were analyzed from blood samples by CLIA method using IDS-iSYS InaKtif MGP (Immunodiagnostic Systems, Frankfurt, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions. fecal calprotectin (FC) levels were determined from stool samples by turbidimetric immunoassay method using Bühlmann fecal calprotectin turbo assay (Bühlmann Laboratories Aktiengesellschaft, Schonenbuch, Switzerland). Other parameters were analyzed according to the standard laboratory procedures. RESULTS Plasma levels of dp-ucMGP were significantly higher in patients with IBD compared to the healthy control group (629.83 ± 124.20 pmol/mL vs 546.7 ± 122.09 pmol/mL, P < 0.001), and there was no significant difference between patients with Crohn’s disease and patients with ulcerative colitis (640.02 ± 131.88 pmol/mL vs 616.23 ± 113.92 pmol/mL, P = 0.432). Furthermore, a significant positive correlation of plasma dp-ucMGP levels was found with both FC levels ( r = 0.396, P < 0.001) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels ( r = 0.477, P < 0.001). Moreover, in the total study population a significant positive correlation was found between dp-ucMGP with age ( r = 0.210, P = 0.016) and waist circumference (r = 0.264, P = 0.002). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that dp-ucMGP levels retained significant association with FC (β ± SE, 0.06 ± 0.02, P = 0.003). CONCLUSION Study results support experimental data of MGP immunomodulatory IBD effect and indicate potential involvement in the pathophysiology of the disease, and possibly extraintestinal manifestations.