Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Pathogenesis and Future Developments

Dear Colleagues,

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic intestinal disorders that are typically categorized as one of two subtypes: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

The pathophysiology of IBD involves complex genetic, environmental, epithelial, microbial and immunological factors. Therefore, IBD pathogenesis is a result of an interplay between genetic susceptibility and environmental impact with regard to the gut microbiome that, through a weakened intestinal barrier, leads to inappropriate intestinal immune activation. The components involved in IBD pathogenesis are continuously being investigated, and this improved knowledge is contributing to the development of new therapies. New approaches must integrate all relevant factors in their totality—the “omes”—and identify the key controllers of biological responses. This can be accomplished with advanced bioinformatics tools, which together represent the essence of network medicine. Here, we invite experts to contribute to this Special Issue with original research or review articles that investigate the cellular and molecular basis of IBD, thereby implicating a number of immune and nonimmune cell types in its pathogenesis, such as macrophages, innate lymphoid cells and subsets of CD4+ T cells, as well as fibroblasts, epithelial cells and endothelial cells.

Dr. Valentina Petito
Dr. Irene Marafini
Dr. Franco Scaldaferri
Guest Editors

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