About this Research Topic

Background

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including its two main subtypes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, is a chronic and immune-mediated condition that leads to an uncontrolled inflammatory process in the gut. The pathophysiology of this disease is still not fully understood, but it is currently considered to be secondary to a dysregulation of the immune system arising in predisposed individuals and mediated through environmental factors. Indeed, multiple environmental aspects have been associated with the individual risk of developing IBD, including smoking habits, breastfeeding, certain dietary patterns, and exposure to antibiotics, among others. Currently the mainstay of IBD treatment is based on controlling the inflammatory process, leading to a relief of symptoms and an improvement in quality of life for patients.

In this Research Topic collection, our aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current approach to IBD management, where a medical and surgical intervention is frequently necessary, but increasingly being delivered in a multi-disciplinary team manner. Moreover, there are many exciting findings and emerging data on new diagnostic techniques, treatment targets, surgical techniques, and strategies aiming for better control of the disease. Thus, different types of papers including original articles, narrative reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, amongst other, will be welcomed, to provide a variety of different perspectives on common clinical challenges encountered by practicing clinicians.

This Topic will cover the current state of the art the in management of IBD, as it is a rapidly evolving field. New drugs, new treatment strategies, and the most recent approaches to the multidisciplinary approach to these patients will be covered in this collection. Hence, we will be receiving original papers but also narrative and systematic reviews, as this papers will help in describing the more recent evidence on each topic. In addition to this, the authors will try to address what are the current gaps and what will be the future steps regarding the approach to this disease from multiple perspectives.

Topic Editor TL declares that they have received financial support for research fromAbbvie, Mylan, MSD, Mundipharma, Biogen, Janssen, Pfizer and Takeda and speaker fees from Ferring, MSD, Abbvie, Janssen, Amgen, Fresenius Kabi and Takeda. Topic Editors IR-L has received financial support for travelling and educational activities from or has served as an advisory board member for Pfizer, Abbvie, Takeda, Janssen, Galapagos, and Adacyte. All other Topic Editors declare no conflicts of interest.

Keywords: IBD, Gastroenterology, Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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