Crohn’s disease is common in industrialized nations where the diet is low in fiber high in processed food.
According to the researchers, this possible due to primary lesions overlie Peyer’s patches and colonic lympoid follicles where bacterial invasion through M-cells occurs.

In the new findings, the researchers suggest that the translocation of Escherichia coli across M (microfold) cells and Peyer’s patches in Crohn’s diseases is inhibited by plant fiber but increases with low concentrations of polysorbate 80 (an emulsifier commonly used in processed foods).

The study authors, Carol L Roberts, MRes, from the University of Liverpool, UK, and colleagues said hypothesized that dietary factors may have either harmful or protective roles in Crohn’s pathogenesis and sought to assess the effect of soluble nonstarch polysaccharide and food emulsifiers on translocation of E coli across M-cells.

In the study, the researchers measured the extent of E coli translocation within M-cell monolayers that were generated by coculturing Caco2-cl1 and Raji B cells and human Peyer’s patches. They compare isolates from patients with Crohn’s disease with those of control patients without the disease.

Shortly, according to the researchers, dietary fiber may acti by blocking the interaction between intestinal bacteria and the epithelium, whereas polysorbate 80 has been shown to integrate within cell membranes, resulting in a change of membrane microviscosity.

Ms. Roberts and colleagues conclude, “These studies show that different dietary components may have powerful and contrasting effects on bacterial translocation across intestinal M-cells.”
According to them, these effects may be relevant to the role of environmental factors in the pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease and suggest possible novel therapeutic approaches.

They suggest that investigational trials be conducted to assess the effects of dietary changes in soluble plant fiber and emulsifier intake on Crohn’s disease activity.