Challenges in IBD Research 2024: Environmental Triggers.

Area of Science:

• Environmental health
• Gastroenterology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Environmental factors are crucial in the development and progression of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).
• The Crohn's & Colitis Challenges 2024 Environmental Triggers workgroup reviewed recent advancements and identified key areas for future research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize progress in understanding environmental impacts on IBD.
• To identify unmet research needs and future directions in the field of environmental triggers for IBD.

Main Methods:

• The workgroup identified four broad categories of unmet needs: Epidemiology, Exposomics and environmental measurement, Biologic mechanisms, and Interventions and Implementation.
• Emphasis was placed on moving beyond traditional questionnaires to identify measurable biomarkers for environmental exposure assessment.

Main Results:

• Significant gaps remain in studying environmental factors in underrepresented populations and in regions with rising IBD incidence.
• A need exists to understand how environmental factors influence different disease stages and outcomes.
• The development of biomarkers for quantifying environmental exposure is a high priority.

Conclusions:

• Future research should leverage existing cohorts and initiate new prospective studies to address epidemiological gaps.
• Identifying biologic mechanisms linking environmental exposures to IBD is essential for understanding disease heterogeneity.
• Developing scalable and sustainable interventions for environmental modification is critical for both individual and societal levels.