Evolving treatment strategies for inflammatory bowel disease

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are idiopathic inflammatory bowel di seases characterized by dysregulated intestinal immune responses in genetic ally susceptible hosts. Conventional approaches to the medical therapy of u lcerative colitis and Crohn's disease can now be directed at either inducti on or maintenance of remission to improve therapeutic efficacy while minimi zing complications. Newer approaches have expanded the utility of conventio nal therapies by improving both safety and efficacy and highlight the impor tance of specific targets along the immunoinflammatory pathways. The combin ation of conventional and novel approaches now offers the potential of modi fying the natural history of these diseases.