Model of colonic inflammation: immune modulatory mechanisms in inflammatory bowel disease.

ABSTRACT: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an immunoinflammatory illness of the gut initiated by an immune response to bacteria in the microflora. The resulting immunopathogenesis leads to lesions in epithelial lining of the colon through which bacteria may infiltrate the tissue causing recurring bouts of diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and malnutrition. In healthy individuals such immunopathogenesis is avoided by the presence of regulatory cells that inhibit the inflammatory pathway. Highly relevant to the search for treatment strategies is the identification of components of the inflammatory pathway that allow regulatory mechanisms to be overridden and immunopathogenesis to proceed. In vitro techniques have identified cellular interactions involved in inflammation-regulation crosstalk. However, trac

SUBMITTER: Wendelsdorf K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2878745 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature