Zeitschrift für klinische und zelluläre Immunologie
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Targeting T cells in Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Flavio Caprioli, Irene Marafini, Federica Facciotti, Francesco Pallone and Giovanni Monteleone

The pathological process that causes tissue damage in Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis, the major inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in humans, is supposed to be mediated by distinct subsets of effector T cells, which accumulate in inflamed intestine of patients as a result of multiple mechanisms. These include enhanced recruitment of T cells from the systemic circulation, increased cell cycling and resistance against apoptotic stimuli. Within the inflamed gut, effector T cells produce elevated levels of cytokines, which target multiple immune and non- immune cell types thus contributing to amplify the detrimental inflammatory response. Strategies aimed at blocking T cell function in the gut have been employed with some success in patients with CD and patients with UC. This article summarizes the available data on T cell-directed therapies in IBD.