Taming the mucosal immune response in Crohn's disease

New effective therapeutic strategies for inflammatory bowel disease are based on recent knowledge of the regulation of the immune response. Specific defects of innate immunity, such as the NOD2 mutation in a subset of patients with Crohn's disease, have been associated with inflammatory bowel disease and provide new therapeutic targets. The ultimate therapeutic goal is the complete restoration of the mucosal immune balance and healing of all intestinal lesions. This may require repair of the underlying genetic mutation, restoration of defects of apoptosis, or generation of regulatory T-lymphocytes.