Chapter category: Autoimmunity
Structure and Function of the Gut Mucosal Immune System
Immune Mechanisms in Inflammatory
Bowel Disease
Edited by: Richard S. Blumberg and Markus F. NeurathISBN: 0-387-30831-8
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «
Chapter authors:
Reinhard Pabst and Hermann J. Rothkötter
For many decades immune reactions have been classified as humoral and cellular, innate and acquired, and the essential cells for protective and tolerogenic reactions were at first subdivided into TH1 and TH2. Later TH3 and TH0 cells were added and the antigen-presenting cell family is continuously growing. Many molecular pathways initiated by cytokine–receptor interactions have been clarified in vitro. However, in vivo all the players in this interacting orchestra of cells have to be at the right location to create the appropriate microenvironment as a basic requirement for meaningful immune reactions.1 Therefore, the different compartments of the gut immune system will be described, focusing on the effects of age, species differences and influence of the nutritional and microbial content of the gut. The gut immune system is integrated in the mucosal immune system in general. However, there is growing evidence for preferential routes from one organ to the other and immunization at one site does not result in protective effects in all other mucosal organs. Thus, the term “common mucosal immune system” should be replaced by “integrated mucosal immune system”.2 Examples will be mentioned to stress the heterogeneity of structures with at first sight similar appearance. The functional anatomy of the gut immune system is the basis for understanding the detailed description of the location of individual cells, which will be dealt with in the following chapters.
Additional chapters from this book:
Recent Progress in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics
Judy H. Cho
One approach toward understanding the pathophysiology of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is through genetic linkage and association studies. These approaches have provided support...
Microbial and Dietary Factors in the Pathogenesis of Chronic, Immune-Mediated Intestinal Inflammation
R. Balfour Sartor
Although genetic background is an important prerequisite for Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and experiment intestinal inflammation, yet to be identified environmental factors profoundly inf...
The Role of Probiotics and Antibiotics in Regulating Mucosal Inflammation
Rainer Duchmann
Antibiotic and probiotic agents have increasingly moved in the focus of basic and clinical research as well as clinical trials for IBD therapy. Both approaches modulate the intestinal flora, the forme...
From Immunogenic Mechanisms to Novel Therapeutic Approaches in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Martin H. Holtmann and Markus F. Neurath
Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are the two most common forms of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The etiology of IBD is still unclear and should be considered as multi-facto...
Multiparameter Analysis of Immunogenetic Mechanisms in Clinical Diagnosis and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Jonathan Braun and Stephan R. Targan
The integrity of the intestinal mucosa depends on a functional coordination of the epithelium, lumenal microorganisms, and the local immune system. The mammalian immune system is superbly organized fo...
Role of Mast Cells and Eosinophils in Neuroimmune Interactions Regulating Mucosal Inflammatory in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Stephan C. Bischoff and Thomas Gebhardt
The nervous and the immune systems are the body’s “supersystems” permanently sensing, processing and responding to changes of the external and internal micro- and macro-environment. Together, both sys...
The B-Cell System in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Per Brandtzaeg, Hege S. Carlsen and Trond S. Halstensen
Secretory immunity is the best-defined part of the mucosal immune system. This adaptive humoral defense mechanism depends on a fine-tuned cooperation between secretory epithelia and local plasma c...
Alterations of T Lymphocytes in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Charles O. Elson, Yingzi Cong and Casey T. Weaver
The intestine contains an abundance of cells of the innate and acquired immune system, and among these T cells represent a major component. Intestinal T cells are distributed among the various com...
Structure and Function of the Gut Mucosal Immune System
Reinhard Pabst and Hermann J. Rothkötter
For many decades immune reactions have been classified as humoral and cellular, innate and acquired, and the essential cells for protective and tolerogenic reactions were at first subdivided into ...
Overview of Role of the Immune System in the Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Thomas T. MacDonald and Giovanni Monteleone
Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are caused by the over-activity of the immune system. Current and novel therapies are designed to dampen these over-active responses. Analysis of the...
Functional Aspects of the Mucosal Immune System
Cathryn Nagler-Anderson
The mucosal immune system is faced with a daunting challenge. It must quickly and efficiently protect the epithelial barrier from invasion by microbes while avoiding a response to antigenic stimuli fr...
Alterations of Mesenchymal and Endothelial Cells in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Claudio Fiocchi, Kenji Ina, Silvio Danese, Andre’ Z.A. Leite and Jon D. Vogel
The pathogenesis of complex chronic diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can no longer be viewed as a one-way street in which classical immune cells have exclusive control over the initiatio...
The Role of the Epithelial Barrier in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Edward E.S. Nieuwenhuis and Richard S. Blumberg
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) represent a heterogeneous group of diseases with two distinct disorders of unknown etiology, Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Both diseases are cha...
Experimental Models of Mucosal Inflammation
Warren Strober and Ivan J. Fuss
While studies of models of mucosal inflammation has been a mainstay of IBD research for the past half century, it is only in the last 10-15 years that this kind of study has taken its place as primus ...
Involvement of Dendritic Cells in the Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Francisco Leon, Lesley E. Smythies, Phillip D. Smith and Brian L. Kelsall
Dendritic cells (DC) are antigen-presenting cells (APCs) with unique properties that allow them to efficiently process antigens and activate naïve T cells. Mucosal DCs have a particular capacity to in...
