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Updated: May 23, 2026

Isolation and Th17 Differentiation of Naïve CD4 T Lymphocytes
Published on: September 26, 2013
Th17-related cytokines in inflammatory bowel diseases: friends or foes?
I Monteleone1, M Sarra, F Pallone
1Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Universita Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 1, 00133 Rome, Italy. Gi.Monteleone@Med.uniroma2.it
Abstract:
T helper (Th)17 cells and other interleukin (IL)-17-producing cells are supposed to play critical roles in several human immune-mediated diseases, including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), the main forms of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in man. Th17 cells infiltrate massively the inflamed intestine of IBD patients and in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that Th17-type cytokines may trigger and amplify multiple inflammatory pathways. Nonetheless, some Th17-related cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-22, may target gut epithelial cells and promote the activation of counter-regulatory mechanisms. This observation together with the demonstration that Th17 cells are not stable and can be converted into either regulatory T cells or Th1 cells if stimulated by immune-suppressive (e.g. TGF-β1) or inflammatory (e.g. IL-12, IL-23) cytokines have contributed to advance our understanding of mechanisms that regulate mucosal homeostasis and inflammation in the gut.
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