ULCERATIVE-COLITIS - AN IMMUNOLOGICAL DISEASE

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease of the large intestine o f unknown aetiology. The nature of the inflammatory infiltrate togethe r with the response to corticosteroids suggests that an abnormal immun e response is at work. The key question of whether the immune system i s responding to an abnormal breach in the mucosa due to another primar y abnormality or whether the primary defect lies within the immune res ponse itself has not been answered. Thus far, it is clear that both T and B cell compartments are involved in the persistence of inflammatio n but the initial interactions that take place in the mucosa in terms of antigen processing and presentation have not been adequately invest igated. Those critical steps and potential defects that push T cells a nd B cells into a heightened stare of activation need to be identified .