Abstract
Crohns disease is an inflammatory bowel disease associated with several changes in the immune system, including an increased number of infiltrating macrophages. These macrophages release a variety of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), macrophage infiltrating factor (MIF), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12 and IL-18, which are critically involved in the onset and the development of Crohns disease. We here focus on the role of macrophages, especially macrophagederived IL-18 in both patients with Crohns disease and a murine model of Crohns disease.
Keywords: crohns disease, proinflammatory cytokines, il-18, immunotoxin, targeting
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