1. P525 A prospective interventional study to evaluate the effect of hypoxia on healthy volunteers and patients with inflammatory bowel disease: The altitude IBD study
- Author
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S Vavricka, J Zeitz, M Madanchi, L Biedermann, Y Morsy, M Scharl, M Gassmann, T Lutz, A Kunz, D Bron, G Rogler, and T Greuter
- Subjects
Gastroenterology ,General Medicine - Abstract
Background It is unknown how high altitude exposure causes inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) flares. We assessed disease activity in healthy controls, IBD patients after 3h exposure in a hypobaric pressure chamber (imitating an altitude of 4000m above sea level). Methods In a prospective study, 11 Crohn’s disease (CD, 6 males, 35.6y±13.7), 9 ulcerative colitis (UC, 3 males, 31.4y±10.8) patients and 10 healthy controls (7 males, 27.7y±4.9) underwent rectosigmoidoscopy in our outpatient clinic (490m, baseline T1) and after 3h exposure in a hypobaric pressure chamber (follow-up day 1 T2 and day 7 T3). Symptoms were assessed using the Harvey Bradshaw Index and the partial Mayo Score before and after hypobaric pressure chamber exposure (baseline T1, day 1 T2, day 7 T3 and day 30 T4). Disease activity was further assessed using CRP levels and fecal calprotectin. Intestinal mucosa-associated microbial composition was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing. Results The 3h exposure in a hypobaric pressure chamber was well tolerated in all subjects. Mean oxygen saturation decreased from 97.5%±1.3 to 80.9%±4.1, and increased back to normal levels (98.8%±1.2%) after the hypobaric intervention (p Conclusion In this prospective study involving IBD patients and healthy controls, a 3h exposure in a hypobaric pressure chamber (corresponding to an altitude of 4000m) did not result in higher disease activity. However, mild flares and development of endoscopic lesions were seen in a subset of patients. Calprotectin-based remission rates significantly decreased between baseline and day 7 suggesting a subclinical effect of short-term hypoxia, not explained by changes in the microbiome. (Clinicaltrials.gov number, NCT02849821)
- Published
- 2022