In Crohn's disease, one of the two major forms of inflammatory bowel diseases in human beings, persistent and chronic inflammation promotes fibrotic processes thereby facilitating formation of strictures, the most common indication for surgical intervention in this disorder. The pathogenesis of Crohn's disease-associated fibrosis is not fully understood, but variants of genes involved in the recognition of microbial components/products [e.g. CARD15 (caspase-activating recruitment domain 15) and ATG16L1 (autophagy-related 16-like 1)] are associated with this phenotype, and experimental evidence suggests that intestinal fibrosis results from an altered balance between deposition of ECM (extracellular matrix) and degradation of ECM by proteases. Studies have also contributed to identify the main phenotypic and functional alterations of cells involved in the fibrogenic process, as well as molecules that stimulate such cells to produce elevated amounts of collagen and other ECM-related proteins. In the present review, we assess the current knowledge about cellular and molecular mediators of intestinal fibrosis and describe results of recent studies aimed at testing the preventive/therapeutic effect of compounds in experimental models of intestinal fibrosis.
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Review Article|
October 22 2015
Pathogenic aspects and therapeutic avenues of intestinal fibrosis in Crohn's disease
Francesca Zorzi;
Francesca Zorzi
*Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
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Emma Calabrese;
Emma Calabrese
*Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
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Giovanni Monteleone
Giovanni Monteleone
1
*Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
Correspondence: Professor Giovanni Monteleone (email [email protected]).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Revision Received:
August 05 2014
Received:
July 06 2015
Accepted:
August 19 2015
Online ISSN: 1470-8736
Print ISSN: 0143-5221
© 2015 Authors; published by Portland Press Limited
2015
Clin Sci (Lond) (2015) 129 (12): 1107–1113.
Article history
Revision Received:
August 05 2014
Received:
July 06 2015
Accepted:
August 19 2015
Citation
Francesca Zorzi, Emma Calabrese, Giovanni Monteleone; Pathogenic aspects and therapeutic avenues of intestinal fibrosis in Crohn's disease. Clin Sci (Lond) 1 December 2015; 129 (12): 1107–1113. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/CS20150472
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