HOW RELEVANT TO HUMAN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE ARE CURRENT ANIMAL-MODELS OF INTESTINAL INFLAMMATION

New rodent models of chronic intestinal inflammation are mediated by a TH1-cell and macrophage dominated immune response to luminal bacteria l constituents. The pathology of these spontaneous and induced models differ widely and caution is needed when assessing the comparative asp ects of such animal models and human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) . Considerable immunological and therapeutic evidence suggests that ch ronic and immune-mediated models are relevant in human IBD and that pa thogenic principles are similar. However animal models have not been a ble to duplicate exactly the pathological characteristics of ulcerativ e colitis or Crohn's disease, indicating a need for caution in extrapo lating data from experimental models to human IBD.