Role of defective autophagia and the intestinal flora in Crohn disease.

ABSTRACT: The precise mechanisms underlying the development of Crohn disease (CD) remain controversial, but sufficient data have been collected to suggest that an uncontrolled immune response within the intestinal mucosa leads to inflammation in a genetically susceptible host. Although lack of mucosal regulatory T cells causes colitis in humans and experimental rodents, patients with CD have more rather than less regulatory activity in the intestine, apparently excluding defects in tolerance as the cause of CD. Genome-wide association studies have identified many gene variants that confer susceptibility and which seem associated to diminished functioning of especially innate immunity. In apparent agreement, CD patients are impaired with respect to innate immune responses and controlling bacterial fl

SUBMITTER: Regeling A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3062387 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature