Adjunctive therapeutic effects of micronutrient supplementation in inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Growing evidence suggests that micronutrient status may have some impact on the course of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, micronutrient deficiencies are easily overlooked during the treatment of IBD patients. There have been many studies on micronutrient supplementation, in which several clinical trials have been conducted targeting vitamin D and iron, but the current research is still preliminary for other vitamins and minerals. This review provides an overview of the adjunctive therapeutic effects of micronutrient supplementation in IBD, to summarize the available evidence, draw the attention of clinicians to micronutrient monitoring and supplementation in patients with IBD, and also provide some perspectives for future research directions.

Nutrition, Nutritional Status, Micronutrients Deficiency, and Disease Course of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

“…The micronutrients and vitamins most involved in IBD are iron, selenium, zinc, copper, manganese, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and folic acid, vitamins A, E, C, K, B1 and B6. Micronutrient and vitamin deficiencies may be linked only to IBD or also to the concomitant presence of other autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune chronic atrophic gastritis (leading to malabsorption of iron and vitamin B12) and celiac disease (responsible for malabsorption of iron and folic acid) [192].…”

“…Vitamin D levels > 30 ng/mL were also associated with a reduced risk of endoscopic recurrence in patients who underwent a prior intestinal resection [235], although vitamin D supplementation does not prevent postoperative recurrence in CD patients [185] As for other nutritional deficits, vitamin deficiency is common in IBD patients, and its pathogenesis is multifactorial [192].…”

“…Concerning the other vitamin of group B only a few data are available [192,243]. However, some evidence showed that Vitamin B1 deficiency could be related to chronic fatigue in IBD patients [244].…”