Crohn's Disease clinical trials at UCLA

The cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is currently unknown, although partly attributed to interactions among genetic risk polymorphisms, environmental factors, gut microbiome, and host immunity. Diet, particularly those with plant-based products, have been shown in prior research to improve gut microbial composition, which has been linked to different IBD-related outcomes. This study is interested in evaluating the impact of prebiotics on gut microbiome composition and gut health in patients with IBD. Dietary composition will be assessed at baseline and over the course of 16 weeks. Participants will be randomized to either consume an 8-week course of prebiotic supplementation beginning at week 0 or week 8. Stool samples will be collected at weeks 0 and 8. The stool will be analyzed for cross-sectional and longitudinal fecal microbial changes associated with different prebiotic and diet consumption patterns in the context of heterogeneous disease characteristics.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often have narrowed microbial diversity and altered composition and function of the gut microbiome. We anticipate the anti-inflammatory diet, when compared with the usual diet, to produce favorable changes in these multi-omics profiles. These findings will provide insight into the interactions between diet and host biology, while providing clues on the mechanisms of diet therapy's effect and CD pathogenesis.