Editorial
Copyright ©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2008; 14(27): 4280-4288
Published online Jul 21, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.4280
Role of cytokines in inflammatory bowel disease
Fausto Sanchez-Muñoz, Aaron Dominguez-Lopez, Jesus K Yamamoto-Furusho
Fausto Sanchez-Muñoz, Aaron Dominguez-Lopez, Jesus K Yamamoto-Furusho, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic, Department of Gastroenterology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Vasco de Quiroga 15 colonia Sección XVI, Tlalpan CP 14000, México
Author contributions: Sanchez-Muñoz F wrote most of the paper; Dominguez-Lopez A contributed in compilation of scientific papers and review; Yamamoto-Furusho JK participated in the designing, writing, editing and reviewing the whole paper.
Correspondence to: Jesús K Yamamoto-Furusho, Professor, MD, PhD, Head of IBD Clinic, Department of Gastroenterology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Vasco de Quiroga 15 colonia Sección XVI, Tlalpan CP 14000, México. kazuofurusho@hotmail.com
Telephone: +52-55-55733418
Fax: +52-55-56550942
Received: April 1, 2008
Revised: May 30, 2008
Accepted: June 6, 2008
Published online: July 21, 2008
Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), represents a group of chronic disorders characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, typically with a relapsing and remitting clinical course. Mucosal macrophages play an important role in the mucosal immune system, and an increase in the number of newly recruited monocytes and activated macrophages has been noted in the inflamed gut of patients with IBD. Activated macrophages are thought to be major contributors to the production of inflammatory cytokines in the gut, and imbalance of cytokines is contributing to the pathogenesis of IBD. The intestinal inflammation in IBD is controlled by a complex interplay of innate and adaptive immune mechanisms. Cytokines play a key role in IBD that determine T cell differentiation of Th1, Th2, T regulatory and newly described Th17 cells. Cytokines levels in time and space orchestrate the development, recurrence and exacerbation of the inflammatory process in IBD. Therefore, several cytokine therapies have been developed and tested for the treatment of IBD patients.

Keywords: Cytokines; Inflammatory bowel disease; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis; Inflammation