Differentiation of Crohn's Disease from Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
The prevalence and incidence of Crohn's Disease (CD) in pediatric populations have been steadily increasing. Growing evidence suggests that gut microbiome dysbiosis plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of CD, yet diagnosing CD over other functional gastrointestinal disorders (DGBIs) remains challenging. In addition, the clinical course of patients with CD is unpredictable, making treatment decisions difficult. For this project, we investigated the fecal microbiome of newly diagnosed, treatment naive pediatric CD patients compared to age- and sex-matched controls with DGBIs.