New developments in experimental models of inflammatory bowel disease.
OBJECTIVE
To consider new data and directions coming from experimental models of inflammatory bowel diseases.


RESULTS
Advances are discussed in the areas of microbial-host interactions in the intestine, the role of cytokines like IL-23, chemokines like IP-10, and various costimulatory molecules in disease pathogenesis. Multiple regulatory cells have been identified as well as the mechanisms they use to inhibit pathogenic responses to the microbiota in the intestine. New data is available on how the intestine heals after inflammatory insults.


CONCLUSIONS
These data are providing fundamental insights into the pathogenesis of IBD and thus are forming the basis of new therapeutic approaches, many of which will be translated to the clinic in the near future.
Elson
Charles O
CO
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0007, USA. coelson@uab.edu
Cong
Yingzi
Y
Lorenz
Robin
R
Weaver
Casey T
CT