Inflammatory bowel disease as a model for translating the microbiome.

Immunity
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are among the most closely studied chronic inflammatory disorders that involve environmental, host genetic, and commensal microbial factors. This combination of features has made IBD both an appropriate and a high-priority platform for translatable research in host-microbiome interactions. Decades of epidemiology have identified environmental risk factors, although most mechanisms of action remain unexplained. The genetic architecture of IBD has been carefully dissected in multiple large populations, identifying several responsible host epithelial and immune pathways but without yet a complete systems-level explanation. Most recently, the commensal gut microbiota have been found to be both ecologically and functionally perturbed during the disease, but with as-yet-unexplained heterogeneity among IBD subtypes and individual patients. IBD thus represents perhaps the most comprehensive current model for understanding the human microbiome's role in complex inflammatory disease. Here, we review the influences of the microbiota on IBD and its potential for translational medicine.

Year of Publication
2014
Journal
Immunity
Volume
40
Issue
6
Pages
843-54
Date Published
2014 Jun 19
ISSN
1097-4180
URL
DOI
10.1016/j.immuni.2014.05.013
PubMed ID
24950204
PubMed Central ID
PMC4135443
Links
Grant list
P30 DK043351 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
R01 DK092405 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
U54 DE023798 / DE / NIDCR NIH HHS / United States
U54 DK102557 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States