Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015;56(2):192-204.
doi: 10.1093/ilar/ilv030.

The Intestinal Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Christoph Becker  1 , Markus F Neurath  1 , Stefan Wirtz  1
Affiliations
Review

The Intestinal Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Christoph Becker et al. ILAR J. 2015.

Abstract

The intestinal microbiota has important metabolic and host-protective functions. Conversely to these beneficial functions, the intestinal microbiota is thought to play a central role in the etiopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), a chronic inflammation of the gut mucosa. Genetic screens and studies in experimental mouse models have clearly demonstrated that IBD can develop due to excessive translocation of bacteria into the bowel wall or dysregulated handling of bacteria in genetically susceptible hosts. In healthy individuals, the microbiota is efficiently separated from the mucosal immune system of the gut by the gut barrier, a single layer of highly specialized epithelial cells, some of which are equipped with innate immune functions to prevent or control access of bacterial antigens to the mucosal immune cells. It is currently unclear whether the composition of the microbial flora or individual bacterial strains or pathogens induces or supports the pathogenesis of IBD. Further research will be necessary to carefully dissect the contribution of individual bacterial species to this disease and to ascertain whether specific modulation of the intestinal microbiome may represent a valuable further option for future therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: Crohn's disease; animal models; inflammatory bowel disease; intestinal microbiota; ulcerative colitis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

-