BACKGROUND AND AIMS Activation of protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) may stimulate various events of importance in inflammatory processes, including release of inflammatory mast cell mediators. PAR-2 is frequently up-regulated during inflammatory conditions, but it is not known if the expression is altered in Crohn's disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the ileal mucosal ...

OBJECTIVES Dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota is associated with Crohn's disease (CD). Functional evidence for a causal role of bacteria in the development of chronic small intestinal inflammation is lacking. Similar to human pathology, TNF(deltaARE) mice develop a tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-driven CD-like transmural inflammation with predominant ileal involvement. DESIGN Heterozygous T...

BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can arise from genetic mutations that compromise intestinal epithelial cell integrity or immune regulation. SHIP has previously been shown to play a pivotal role in limiting the number of immunoregulatory cells and their function. AIM To determine whether SHIP plays a pivotal role in control of immune tolerance in the gut mucosa. METHODS Gastroint...

The term 'Crohn's syndrome' is preferred to that of Crohn's disease as this is a condition of unknown, single, or possibly multiple aetiology. There are a large number of synonyms, including terminal ileitis, regional ileitis, regional or segmented colitis. It affects ileum or colon, alone or in combination. The disease manifests itself by well-demarcated areas of thickened bowel, stenosis, oft...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Human and animal studies have clearly established tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α as an important mediator of Crohn's disease pathogenesis. However, whether systemic or only local TNFα overproduction is required for the development of chronic intestinal inflammation and Crohn's disease remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of intestinal epithelial...

To understand the interactions between substance P and gut inflammation, changes in substance P levels were evaluated in a chronic model of ileitis in response to three anti-inflammatory agents with distinct mechanisms of action. The agents were the prostaglandin E(1) analogue misoprostol (30 mug/kg, s.c., b.i.d.), the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, ...

Background Terminal ileum endoscopy and biopsy are the diagnostic tools of diseases attacking the ileum. However, abnormal histological findings can be found in endoscopically normal terminal ileum. Objective This study was performed to evaluate the histopathological results of biopsies from endoscopically normal terminal ileum in order to determine pre-procedure clinical and laboratory factors...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Liver inflammation is a common extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, whether liver involvement is a consequence of a primary intestinal defect or results from alternative pathogenic processes remains unclear. Therefore, we sought to determine the potential pathogenic mechanism(s) of concomitant liver inflammation in an established murine...