title: Autophagy: a new target or an old strategy for the treatment of Crohn's disease?
abstract: In the past 5 years much progress has been made in understanding the molecular basis of Crohn's disease, a multifactorial chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. Data suggest that hampered autophagy--the major lysosomal pathway for recycling of cytoplasmic material--might contribute to an increased susceptibility to Crohn's disease. Consequently, intense investigations have started to evaluate the potential value of autophagy as a therapeutic target and as a highly needed diagnostic tool. Interestingly, as well as the promising introduction of direct autophagic modulators, several drugs already used in the treatment of Crohn's disease might exert at least part of their effect through the regulation of autophagy. However, whether this phenomenon contributes to or rather counteracts their therapeutic use, remains to be determined and might prove to be highly compound-specific. Here we review the complex and emerging role of autophagy modulation in the battle against Crohn's disease. Moreover, we discuss the potential benefits and deleterious effects of autophagic regulation by both new and clinically used drugs.
authors.affiliation: Translational Research in Gastrointestinal Disorders, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, Box 701, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nys
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Agostinis
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vermeire
mesh_terms: D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001379:Azathioprine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003474:Curcumin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D003474:Curcumin; D001379:Azathioprine