ANIMAL-MODELS OF INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE - INSIGHTS INTO THE IMMUNOPATHOGENESIS OF CROHNS-DISEASE AND ULCERATIVE-COLITIS

Many diseases, including those characterized by inflammation of the ga strointestinal tract (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), are due to an array of factors that act in concert to produce pathologic chan ge. The immunologic factors that mediate the development of such mucos al inflammation have been at the center of intense research. Recently, a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in mucosal homeosta sis and the occurrence of inflammatory bower disease (IBD) has been ac hieved with the advent of animal models of mucosal inflammation. This review discusses these models and the insights they provide into the p athogenesis and treatment of IBD.