Dietary intake and nutritional profiles characterize patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease from Argentina

Abstract

Diet is increasingly recognized as a modifiable determinant of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) onset and progression, including patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD); however, comprehensive nutritional characterization of these populations in Latin America remains scarce. To evaluate dietary intake and nutritional profiles among healthy individuals and IBD patients, focusing on fiber intake and the food-source distribution of dietary tryptophan, and to assess differences according to disease phenotype and activity. An observational cross-sectional study recruited 14 healthy individuals, 15 UC patients, and 10 CD patients at the Hospital Privado Universitario de Córdoba, Argentina. Dietary intake was assessed using a prospective seven-day food record analyzed with Nutrio V2.1 software and energy-adjusted by the Willett residual method. Plasma tryptophan was measured by validated HPLC and disease activity by the Mayo score (UC) or the Harvey-Bradshaw index (CD). No significant differences were observed in total energy, macronutrient, or tryptophan intake between groups. In univariate exploratory analyses, weekly consumption frequency was lower than in healthy individuals for cheese in both UC ( p  = 0.017) and CD ( p  = 0.012), and for whole cereals ( p  = 0.010) and hot beverages ( p  = 0.003) in UC. The relative contribution of specific food groups to total dietary tryptophan also differed, being lower for cheese in CD ( p  = 0.037) and for whole cereals in UC ( p  = 0.008), and higher for meat in UC ( p  = 0.031). Dietary fiber intake was lower in UC than in healthy individuals ( p  = 0.033). A negative dietary-plasma tryptophan correlation was identified exclusively in the healthy group ( r  = −0.4681, p  = 0.0469). None of these differences remained significant after FDR correction for multiple testing. Disease-activity subgroup analyses were based on small sample sizes ( n as low as 4) and should be interpreted as descriptive observations only. These hypothesis-generating findings suggest that tryptophan food-source distribution and fiber intake, rather than caloric or macronutrient deficits, may represent candidate nutritional distinctions in IBD patients; however, as none withstood correction for multiple testing, confirmation in larger prospective studies is required before any clinical implications can be drawn.