Therapeutic impact of toll-like receptors on inflammatory bowel diseases: a multiple-edged sword.
Recent studies have begun to define the mechanisms through which Toll-like receptors (TLRs) regulate intestinal homeostasis in health and disease. Current therapies for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) mostly aim at interrupting the inflammatory cascade through agents that regulate TH1 or TH2 cytokine responses. As recognition grows for TLR dysfunction to play a role in IBD pathogenesis, TLRs could provide another valid interventional target for novel therapy development. However, seemingly contradictory results from studying different murine models of colitis have so far confounded whether therapeutically useful modulation of TLRs is best accomplished by activating, inhibiting, or rather a combination of both at different stages of mucosal disease. This review evaluates potential strategies as well as their rationale and future prospects.
Cario
Elke
E
Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institutsgruppe I, Virchowstrasse 171, Essen, Germany. elke.cario@uni-duisburg-essen.de
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D051194:Toll-Like Receptor 1 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D051194:Toll-Like Receptor 1; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2