Skip Navigation


British Medical Bulletin Advance Access originally published online on October 17, 2008
British Medical Bulletin 2008 88(1):95-113; doi:10.1093/bmb/ldn038
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
88/1/95    most recent
ldn038v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in BMB
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Knight, P.
Right arrow Articles by Rhodes, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Knight, P.
Right arrow Articles by Rhodes, J. M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Authors 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Host-bacteria interaction in inflammatory bowel disease

Paul Knight, Barry J. Campbell* and Jonathan M. Rhodes

Division of Gastroenterology, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

* Correspondence to: Dr B. J. Campbell, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Nuffield Building, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK. E-mail: b.j.campbell{at}liverpool.ac.uk

Introduction/background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) results from complex interactions between: host genome, immune system, mucosa, bacteria, and environment.

Sources of data: Review of PubMed database using search terms ‘bacteria and inflammatory bowel disease’ and ‘genetics and inflammatory bowel disease’. PubMed ‘related reference’ feature and references from retrieved articles were examined.

Areas of agreement: IBD results from interaction between the microbiota of the gut and the immune system. Key gene defects associated with IBD are involved in bacterial recognition and processing. The environment at least modifies and may determine pathogenesis.

Areas of controversy: It has been disputed whether the primary defect in IBD is immunological or bacterial, and which bacteria are key.

Growing points/areas for research: ‘M cells’, the specialized epithelial cells that overlie Peyer's patches, are a major interface between gut bacteria and the immune system. Improved understanding is needed of the bacteria involved in IBD pathogenesis, their genotypes and phenotypes, their portal of entry and their mechanism for escaping attack from the immune system. Bacterial ligands involved in bacteria–epithelial adhesion are emerging, and molecular techniques are rapidly increasing our knowledge of the human intestinal microbiota.

Keywords: Crohn's disease • ulcerative colitis • Escherichia coli • macrophage • autophagy • M cell

Accepted for publication September 24, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?

Related articles in BMB:

Editor's Choice

BMB 2008 88: 1-6. [Extract] [FREE Full Text]  





Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.