Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic disorder associated with immune dysregulation and chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. While it is poorly understood, the role of nutrition and nutrient status in the etiology of IBD and its associated outcomes has led to increased research relating to micronutrient deficiency. This review offers an overview of recent literature related to micronutrient absorption and outcomes in adults with IBD. Although the absorption and IBD-related outcomes of some micronutrients (e.g., vitamin D and iron) are well understood, other micronutrients (e.g., vitamin A) require further research. Increased research and clinician knowledge of the relationship between micronutrients and IBD may manifest in improved nutrient screening, monitoring, treatment, and outcomes for people living with IBD.

The increasing prevalence of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has given rise to increased awareness of the need to educate clinicians and patients about the critical role of immunization in this patient population. In 2023, it was estimated that in the Canadian population, 320,000 individuals (0.83%) were affected by IBD. Patients with IBD are at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases as the result of several factors, including potentially reduced efficacy and safety of vaccinations in the context of systemic immunosuppressive therapies administered for the management of IBD2 and a state of malnutrition caused by the disease. Barriers to the administration of vaccinations include: Clinicians’ reluctance to immunize patients with IBD; patient lack of awareness regarding the critical importance of a structured vaccination protocol; gastroenterologists’ assumption that immunization falls under the auspices of the primary care provider (PCP); and limited time and resources. The objective of this paper is to highlight the need for broader implementation of the 2021 Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG) Guidelines concerning both live and inactivated vaccines in patients with IBD. This overview focuses on commonly encountered VPDs for which administration of live and non-live vaccines may be required and for which an IBD-specific deviation from the NACI recommendations have been made. The vaccines selected for this brief overview are also commonly administered in clinical practice. Clinicians may experience uncertainty in relation to management of these vaccinations in practice.

Vesicle-encapsulated nonenveloped viruses are a recently recognized alternate form of nonenveloped viruses that can avoid immune detection and potentially increase systemic transmission. Avian orthoreoviruses (ARVs) are the leading cause of various disease conditions among birds and poultry. However, whether ARVs use cellular vesicle trafficking routes for egress and cell-to-cell transmission is still poorly understood. We demonstrated that fusogenic ARV-infected quail cells generated small (~100 nm diameter) extracellular vesicles (EVs) that contained electron-dense material when observed by transmission electron microscope. Cryo-EM tomography indicated that these vesicles did not contain ARV virions or core particles, but the EV fractions of OptiPrep gradients did contain a small percent of the ARV virions released from cells. Western blotting of detergent-treated EVs revealed that soluble virus proteins and the fusogenic p10 FAST protein were contained within the EVs. Notably, virus particles mixed with the EVs were up to 50 times more infectious than virions alone. These results suggest that EVs and perhaps fusogenic FAST-EVs could contribute to ARV virulence.