NEW CYTOKINES INVOLVED IN SMALL BOWEL INFLAMMATION

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a group of chronic diseases characterized by gastrointestinal inflammation, usually with a recurrent and transient clinical course. Mucosal macrophages play an important role in the mucosal immune system, and increased numbers of newly recruited monocytes and activated macrophages have been reported in the inflamed intestine of patients with IBD.