Background The potential need for an ostomy is a main concern for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. We performed this study to evaluate the impact of a long term ostomy (≥ 6 months duration) on the functional status and specific patient-reported outcomes (PRO) in a population of patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis within the CCFA Partners cohort Study. Bivariate analyses and logistic regression models were used to investigate associations between ostomy and various demographic, disease factors, and PROs for health related quality of life (HRQOL). Results A total of 402 CD patients with ostomy for a minimum duration of 6 months were compared to 4331 CD patients with no ostomy. Patients with ostomy were more likely to be in clinical remission compared to those without ostomy, 48.5% vs. 31.3%, respectively. Having an ostomy did not impact overall HRQOL and was not associated with anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, or reduced sexual interest and satisfaction. However, the presence of ostomy was associated with reduced social role satisfaction in patients both with controlled and active disease. Additionally, in the subset of patients who did not achieve clinical remission, those with ostomy experienced greater pain interference (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.12–2.35) and fatigue (OR 1.66 95% CI 1.15–2.39). Conclusion Ostomy is well-tolerated in CD patients, particularly when clinical remission is achieved.

In this sample of patients with IBD, high prevalence of concomitant IBS diagnosis was observed. IBD-IBS diagnosis was associated with increased narcotic use and adverse patient-reported outcome. Appropriate diagnosis, treatment, and counseling may help improve the functional status of IBD-IBS patients and decrease narcotic use.

Introduction Budesonide is a synthetic corticosteroid characterized by enhanced topical potency and limited systemic bioavailability. Its use in ulcerative colitis (UC) was limited to rectal preparations until recently when the new oral budesonide formulation incorporating the multi-matrix system technology was introduced. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the current role of oral and rectal budesonide in managing UC patients Areas Covered In this paper, we described the chemical structure and pharmacologic characteristics of the different oral and rectal budesonide preparations, provided a summary of the published trials that evaluated the efficacy and safety of budesonide in UC, and discussed the current status of its use in this population Expert Opinion Budesonide is effective in inducing remission in a subset of patients with mild-moderate UC. Nevertheless, the current evidence suggests inferiority of oral budesonide to 5-aminosalisylates (5-ASA) and systemic steroids, whereas rectal applications are comparable to other rectal steroid preparations but still inferior to rectal 5-ASA. In clinical practice, several issues need clarification including, its exact position in the line of induction agents; the role of combining budesonide and 5-ASAs; the role of combining oral and rectal budesonide; and the role of budesonide in maintenance therapy.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gut. Available drugs aim to suppress gut inflammation. These drugs have significantly delayed disease progression and improved patients’ quality of life. However, the disease continues to progress, underscoring the need to develop novel therapies. Aside from chronic gut inflammation, IBD patients also experience a leaky gut problem due to damage to the intestinal epithelial layer. In this regard, epithelial regeneration and repair are mediated by intestinal stem cells. However, no therapies are available to directly enhance the intestinal stem cells’ regenerative and repair function. Recently, it was shown that active vitamin D, i.e., 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D or 1,25(OH)2D, was necessary to maintain Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells, actively cycling under physiological conditions. In this study, we used two strategies to investigate the role of 1,25(OH)2D in intestinal stem cells’ regenerative function. First, to avoid the side effects of systemic high 1,25(OH)2D conditions, we used our recently developed novel strategy to deliver locally high 1,25(OH)2D concentrations specifically to inflamed intestines. Second, because of the Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells’ active cycling status, we used a pulse-and-chase strategy via 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling to trace the Lgr5+ stem cells through the whole epithelial regeneration process. Our data showed that locally high 1,25(OH)2D concentrations enhanced intestinal stem cell migration. Additionally, the migrated cells differentiated into mature epithelial cells. Our data, therefore, suggest that local delivery of high 1,25(OH)2D concentrations is a promising strategy to augment intestinal epithelial repair in IBD patients.