Projects
Study of granuloma and giant cell formation in autoinflammatory diseases: focus on NOD2-associated Blau syndrome and Crohn's disease. KU Leuven
Granulomas are organized aggregates of predominantly macrophages which often fuse into multinucleated giant cells. In infectious diseases, granuloma formation is seen as a response of the immune system to segregate and remove persistent pathogens or large particles. Granulomas with multinucleated giant cells are also seen in chronic immune disorders without any bvious infectious trigger, including diverse autoimmune and autoinflammatory ...
Study of granuloma and giant cell formation in autoinfammatory diseases: focus on NOD2-associated Blau syndrome and Crohn's disease KU Leuven
Granulomas are organized aggregates of predominantly macrophages which fuse into multinucleated giant cells. In infectious diseases, granuloma formation is seen as a response of the immune system to remove persistent pathogens. However, granulomas are also seen in immune disorders without any obvious infectious trigger, including autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. In these disorders it is not known why granulomas arise and how giant ...
Autophagy and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress: genetic and functional characterization of Crohn's patients to aid in individualized disease management KU Leuven
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammation of the intestine for which the cause is still unknown. Current treatment options are far from successful in all patients, requiring surgery as the unfavorable last resort. Consequently there is an urgent and constant need for new and more efficient diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. In the last years strong progress has been made in understanding the genetic basis of Crohn’s disease. Recently ...
Study of the earliest lesions in Crohn's disease in the post-operative recurrence model. KU Leuven
The study of genetic, immunologic and microbiologic factors in the etiopathogenesis of Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis. KU Leuven
Characterization of triggers of post-operative recurrence in Crohn’s disease in both the external and luminal side of the intestine KU Leuven
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic, inflammatory bowel disease which is caused by a complex interaction of genetic, immune, microbial and environmental factors. Surgical resection is needed in up to 70% of CD patients. At the luminal side of the intestine new CD lesions recur within weeks to months after surgery in two-thirds of patients, but only in the presence of a fecal transit. At the external side of the intestine, the phenomenon ...
Lipidomic, microbial and functional characterization of triggers of post-operative recurrence in Crohn’s disease KU Leuven
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which is caused by a complex interaction of genetic, immune, microbial and environmental factors. Surgical resection is needed in up to 70% of CD patients. At the luminal side of the intestine, pioneering work of our group demonstrated that in two-thirds of patients undergoing surgery, new CD lesions recur within weeks to months, but only in the presence of the ...
The influence of cigarette smoke on microbiome-gut interactions: implications of Crohn’s Disease Ghent University
Crohn’s Disease (CD) is an incapacitating inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. The most undeniable environmental risk factor in development of CD is smoking. Therefore, we will investigate the influence of smoke exposure on gut immune homeostasis and gut-microbiome interactions, and its implications for the development of intestinal inflammation.