Nutrients. 2023 Nov 14;15(22):4777. doi: 10.3390/nu15224777.

Martin McDonnell ^1 2, Stephanie Sartain ^1 2, Catherine Westoby ^1 2 3, Vasiliki Katarachia ^1 2 3, Stephen A Wootton ^1 2, J R Fraser Cummings ^2 4

Author information

¹Human Health and Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.

²NIHR Biomedical Research Center, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.

³Department of Dietetics, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.

⁴Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.

Abstract

Adults with Crohn's disease (CD) may be at risk of micronutrient insufficiency in clinical remission through restrictive eating, malabsorption, abnormal losses or inflammation. This systematic review synthesises the literature on micronutrient insufficiency in CD in clinical remission in terms of the prevalence of low circulating micronutrient concentrations and as a comparison against a healthy control (HC). Studies were included if the population was predominantly in remission. A total of 42 studies met the inclusion criteria; 12 were rated as low quality, leaving 30 studies covering 21 micronutrients of medium/high quality that were included in the synthesis. Vitamins D and B12 were the most frequently reported nutrients (8 and 11); there were few eligible studies for the remaining micronutrients. The prevalence studies were consistent in reporting individuals with low Vitamins A, B6, B12 and C, β-carotene, D, Magnesium, Selenium and Zinc. The comparator studies were inconsistent in finding differences with CD populations; Vitamin D, the most reported nutrient, was only lower than the HC in one-quarter of the studies. Adult CD populations are likely to contain individuals with low levels of one or more micronutrients, with the most substantial evidence for Vitamins D and B12. The studies on other micronutrients are of insufficient number, standardisation and quality to inform practice.