Macrophage-derived IL-18 targeting for the treatment of Crohn's disease.

Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan. taka.gast@tmd.ac.jp

Crohn's 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-alpha (TNF-alpha, macrophage infiltrating factor (MIF), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12 and IL-18, which are critically involved in the onset and the development of Crohn's disease. We here focus on the role of macrophages, especially macrophage-derived IL-18 in both patients with Crohn's disease and a murine model of Crohn's disease.

PMID: 14561165 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]