ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1660731
This article is part of the Research TopicNutritional Challenges and Therapies in Youth with Chronic Inflammatory DiseasesView all 8 articles
CT-Based Assessment of Sarcopenia and Its Association with Biologic Treatment Outcomes in Chinese Children with Crohn's Disease
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Gastroenterology, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijng, China
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Background: Sarcopenia affects treatment outcomes in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), yet research focusing on pediatric populations is limited. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of sarcopenia among Chinese children with CD and to evaluate its impact on biologic therapy by analyzing body composition parameters based-on computed tomography enterography (CTE). Methods: Pediatric CD patients who underwent CTE and received infliximab (IFX) treatment between 2022 and 2025 were enrolled. Clinical, laboratory, and radiological data were collected. CTE was utilized to assess body composition. The control group consisted of children without inflammatory bowel disease (non-IBD) who underwent abdominal CT scans. Results: A total of 68 children with CD (mean age 11.89 years) were included. The prevalence of sarcopenia was significantly higher in the CD group compared to the 136 controls (33.8% vs. 10.2%, P=0.001). Body mass index (BMI) was identified as the only protective factor against sarcopenia (OR 0.734, 95% CI 0.578–0.932, P=0.005). Among CD patients, those with loss of response (LOR) to IFX had a significantly higher incidence of sarcopenia than those in remission (50% vs. 23.8%, P=0.027). After treatment with infliximab combined with total exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) or partial enteral nutrition (PEN) in 44 children, follow-up CTE showed a significant reduction in sarcopenia prevalence (47.7% vs. 25%, P=0.027). Conclusion: Sarcopenia is common in Chinese children with CD and adversely affects the efficacy of biological therapy. CTE is a valuable tool for assessing sarcopenia in this population. Early detection and intervention may improve clinical outcomes for children with CD.
Keywords: Crohn's disease, infliximab, Computed tomography enterography, bodycomposition, Sarcopenia, Children
Received: 06 Jul 2025; Accepted: 29 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cheng, kong, Wang, Du, Yu and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jie Wu, wujie_022024@163.com
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