Interleukin-18 and Crohn's disease.
The etiology and pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease remains an area under intense investigation. Crohn's disease (CD) is characterized by a marked accumulation of activated Th1 type CD4+ T cells and macrophages in inflamed intestinal mucosa. IL-18 is a recently described cytokine that mainly exists in activated macrophages and shares biological activities with IL-12 in driving the development of Th1 type CD4+ T cells by inducing interferon-gamma. To clarify the role of IL-18 in intestinal inflammation in CD, we assessed the functional role of IL-18 in regulating intestinal mucosal lymphocytes in human CD and murine CD model.
Kanai
T
T
Keio Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Keio University, Keio, Japan.
Watanabe
M
M
Okazawa
A
A
Sato
T
T
Hibi
T
T
D000818:Animals; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D015704:CD4 Antigens; D020382:Interleukin-18