The role of innate immunity in chronic intestinal inflammation and fibrosis: towards a cure for Inflammatory Bowel Disease? KU Leuven
The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic relapsing and remitting inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, presenting mostly in young adults (peak age of onset 15-30 years). The clinical course of IBD is highly heterogeneous and until now unpredictable. Due to recurrent flares, interspaced with periods of remission, cumulative remodeling of the gut wall occurs and this may ...