Chapter category: Autoimmunity
Role of Mast Cells and Eosinophils in Neuroimmune Interactions Regulating Mucosal Inflammatory in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
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:
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 systems provide function, integrity, and homeostasis of the organism, and it is supposed that they do so by bi-directionally interacting with each other at different levels. Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence for neural regulation of immune functions and, vice versa, for impact of immune activation on the function of the nervous system.1 Mechanistically, this is mainly brought about by the shared use of several ligands and receptors in cell types of both neural and immunological origin. Furthermore, it is supposed that dysregulation of neuroimmune cross-talk occurs during or even might cause various chronic inflammatory conditions.1,2 Based on several morphologic and functional studies, tissue mast cells (MC) and, albeit to lesser extent, eosinophils (Eo) are known as key players in neuroimmune interactions at barrier locations such as gut, lung, or skin.1,3-5 Whereas MC-nerve interactions have been reported in many different studies, evidence for Eo-nerve interaction in the gut is rather limited. Intestinal MCs, for instance, interact with nerves and epithelial cells to regulate various physiologic processes such as intestinal motility, intestinal permeability, or ion and fluid secretion. Furthermore, intestinal MCs and Eos exert proinflammatory and immuno-modulatory properties and are involved in intestinal inflammation, e.g., in the course of allergic enteritis or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). These observations led to the hypothesis that activation of MCs and possibly also Eos may be closely related to a dysregulated neural coordination of gut function as observed in chronically inflammed tissue. In this chapter, we will review current knowledge about the regulation and function of human intestinal MCs and Eos and their role in intestinal inflammation, particularly in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Moreover, we will try to summarize several studies providing evidence for a crosstalk between nerves and intestinal MCs and Eos, respectively, and we will discuss the possible role of such interaction in the pathogenesis of IBD.
Additional chapters from this book:
Recent Progress in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics
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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...
