Author(s): Takanori Kanai, Koji Uraushihara, Teruji Totsuka, Akira Okazawa, Toshifumi Hibi, Shigeru Oshima, Tatsuya Miyata, Tetsuya Nakamura and Mamoru Watanabe
Page: [131 - 136] Pages: 6
* (Excluding Mailing and Handling)
Crohns disease is an inflammatory bowel disease associated with several changes in the immune system, including an increased number of infiltrating macrophages. These macrophages release a variety of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), macrophage infiltrating factor (MIF), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12 and IL-18, which are critically involved in the onset and the development of Crohns disease. We here focus on the role of macrophages, especially macrophagederived IL-18 in both patients with Crohns disease and a murine model of Crohns disease.
Keywords: crohns disease, proinflammatory cytokines, il-18, immunotoxin, targeting
