Review
A lay doctor's guide to the inflammatory process in the gastrointestinal tract
S Pathmakanthan, C J HawkeyDivision of
Gastroenterology, University Hospital, Queens Medical Centre,
Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
Correspondence to: Dr Pathmakanthan (email: pcgshri@aol.com)
Submitted 5 August
1999;
Accepted 13 January 2000
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
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Overview |
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The immune system of the gastrointestinal tract represents the largest mass of lymphoid tissue in the body consisting of up to 106 lymphocytes/g tissue.1 All appropriate and inappropriate inflammation in the gut is initiated by this gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). Several mediators of inflammation that include cytokines, chemokines, and eicosanoids help promote and regulate these functions but if unregulated can contribute to mucosal damage as seen in the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). While the initiators of inflammation are variable in gastrointestinal disease, the pathways of immunologically mediated mucosal damage are common. The balance between proinflammatory cytokines and the production of anti-inflammatory molecules will determine the severity, extent, and outcome of mucosal inflammation.
During normal vaginal delivery, the gastrointestinal immune system is
exposed to maternal enteric bacteria which rapidly colonise the
infant's intestine reaching concentrations of 1011/g of
stool.2 The continuous interaction between commensal bacteria present in the gastrointestinal
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