[New therapy in inflammatory bowel disease (infliximab)]

In inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease, certain immunological abnormalities are considered as its cause, but the fundamental mechanism remains unclear. However, recent researches revealed that inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules, such as TNFalpha, IL-6, IL-12 and alpha4 integrin, play an important role in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease. This led to the development of anti-cytokine therapy and anti-adhesion molecules therapy using monoclonal antibodies to theses cytokines and adhesion molecules. Among them, infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody to TNFalpha, is most clinically applied and marked therapeutic effect is seen in Crohn's disease. Moreover various anti-cytokine therapy was introduced in clinical fields.