HCPLive Coverage Recap: NASPGHAN 2025 Annual Meeting

At the 2025 North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Annual Meeting, held November 5–8 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, clinicians, researchers, and allied health professionals gathered to share the latest data, clinical updates, and expert perspectives in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition.

HCPLive provided on-site reporting throughout the meeting, highlighting key findings across oral abstracts, posters, single- topic symposium sessions, and expert-led video interviews.

So far, our coverage has spanned Helicobacter pylori research, new pharmacologic therapies for irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C), and long-term outcomes for patients with progressive cholestatic liver diseases. HCPLive will continue to provide coverage and updates from the meeting in the coming days, even as the conference concludes today.

Below, we recap our coverage of NASPGHAN 2025.

Silvana Bonilla, MD, Explores Geographic Patterns of H. pylori in Pediatric Digestive Disease

New multicenter data presented by Silvana Bonilla, MD, attending physician, Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Boston Children’s Hospital, examined the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection (HPI) in children with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), celiac disease (CeD), or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) across the Americas. Among 365 pediatric patients, overall HPI prevalence was 9.3%, with significant geographic variation—51.6% of positive cases were from Colombia, compared with 29% in the United States and 6.5% in Chile. HPI was more common in children with EoE and less frequent in those with CeD, highlighting the complex immunologic role of H. pylori in pediatric digestive diseases.

Click here to watch our discussion with Silvana Bonilla, MD.

H. pylori Geographical Prevalence and NASPGHAN/ESPGHAN Guidelines, With Silvana Bonilla, MD

In a video interview, Bonilla discussed how these findings align with the 2023 joint NASPGHAN/ESPGHAN guidelines, which conditionally recommend against routine H. pylori biopsies in children evaluated for IBD, CeD, or EoE. She emphasized that biopsies should be guided by clinical suspicion rather than performed routinely, and noted ongoing plans to follow patients longitudinally to assess potential protective effects of H. pylori and the influence of environmental shifts on immune-mediated digestive diseases.

Click here to watch this discussion of H. pylori.

Newly-Approved Linaclotide's Long-Term Safety Data

Long-term safety data for linaclotide (Linzess; Ironwood Pharmaceuticals) in pediatric patients aged 7–17 years with IBS-C demonstrated a low incidence of diarrhea and favorable tolerability through 52 weeks of treatment. FDA approval for this population was granted on November 5, 2025, supported by extrapolated adult efficacy data and a 12-week pediatric trial. In an ongoing phase 3 study, 98 patients received once-daily linaclotide at 145 μg or 290 μg, with safety findings consistent with adult studies and no discontinuations due to adverse events.

Click here for more on linaclotide.

Julie Khlevner, MD, AGAF, Reacts to the FDA Approval of Linaclotide for Pediatric IBS-C

Julie Khlevner, MD, AGAF, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center and Chair, NASPGHAN Neurogastroenterology and Motility Committee, discussed the FDA approval of linaclotide for children ≥7 years with IBS-C. She highlighted improvements in bowel movement frequency and abdominal pain, confirming the therapy’s tolerability and potential use by both pediatric gastroenterologists and general pediatricians. Khlevner also underscored the ongoing need for new pediatric therapeutics to address individual symptomatology.

Click here to watch Julie Khlevner offer thoughts on the linaclotide's FDA approval.

Discussing Safety, Tolerability of Tenapanor in Pediatric IBS-C Patients, with Thomas Wallach, MD

Interim data from the phase 3 R-ALLY trial and its open-label extension showed that tenapanor, a sodium/hydrogen exchanger isoform 3 (NHE3) inhibitor, was safe and well-tolerated in adolescents with IBS-C. Wallach highlighted that no serious treatment-related adverse events occurred and that the safety profile was consistent with adult data. He noted the potential utility of tenapanor in managing pediatric constipation while emphasizing that efficacy data are still under investigation.

Click here to watch our full interview with Thomas Wallach, MD.

NASPGHAN 2025: Odevixibat Shows Sustained Pruritus and Bile Acid Improvements in FIC1 Deficiency

Post hoc analyses of PEDFIC 1 and PEDFIC 2 demonstrated that odevixibat provided sustained reductions in serum bile acids and improvements in pruritus in patients with FIC1 deficiency (PFIC1). Among 35 patients, long-term treatment up to 96 weeks maintained clinically meaningful improvements, supporting odevixibat’s durable benefit in managing both biochemical and symptomatic burdens of PFIC1.

Click here for more on odevixibat for FIC1 deficiency.

Odevixibat Improves Long-Term Quality of Life, Sleep in Patients with Alagille Syndrome

In patients with Alagille syndrome, odevixibat treatment led to long-term improvements in sleep and caregiver-reported quality of life (QoL). Data from the ASSERT and ASSERT-EXT studies showed sustained improvements across multiple sleep parameters and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory scores over 96 weeks of therapy. These findings reinforce odevixibat’s impact on both symptomatic relief and overall patient well-being, complementing previous data on pruritus reduction in cholestatic liver disease.

Click here for more on odevixibat's long-term QoL and sleep improvement data.