Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Development of an Antigen-driven Colitis Model to Study Presentation of Antigens by Antigen Presenting Cells to T Cells
Published on: September 18, 2016
Inflammatory bowel disease as a model for translating the microbiome
Curtis Huttenhower1, Aleksandar D Kostic2, Ramnik J Xavier3
1Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) involve environmental, genetic, and microbial factors. Research highlights the gut microbiome
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology and Microbiology
- Host-Microbiome Interactions
- Complex Inflammatory Diseases
Background:
- Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic inflammatory disorders influenced by a complex interplay of environmental, genetic, and microbial factors.
- Epidemiological studies have identified environmental risk factors for IBD, but their precise mechanisms remain largely unexplained.
- Genetic studies have revealed key host epithelial and immune pathways involved in IBD pathogenesis, yet a comprehensive systems-level understanding is lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current understanding of the gut microbiota's influence on inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
- To explore the potential of host-microbiome interactions in IBD as a platform for translational research.
- To discuss the heterogeneity of microbial perturbations observed in IBD subtypes and individual patients.
Main Methods:
- Review of epidemiological data on environmental risk factors in IBD.
- Analysis of genetic architecture studies identifying host pathways in IBD.
- Examination of recent findings on ecological and functional perturbations of the gut microbiota in IBD patients.
Main Results:
- IBD pathogenesis involves a combination of environmental exposures, host genetics, and alterations in the commensal gut microbiota.
- While genetic and environmental factors are implicated, the mechanisms driving IBD remain incompletely understood.
- Gut microbiota are consistently perturbed in IBD, exhibiting significant heterogeneity across disease subtypes and individuals.
Conclusions:
- IBD serves as a crucial model for investigating the human microbiome's role in complex inflammatory diseases.
- Understanding host-microbiome interactions is essential for advancing translational medicine in IBD.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying microbial dysbiosis and its contribution to IBD.
More Related Videos
08:24Injections of Lipopolysaccharide into Mice to Mimic Entrance of Microbial-derived Products After Intestinal Barrier Breach
Published on: May 2, 2018
07:34Induction of Intestinal Inflammation by Adoptive Transfer of CBir1 TCR Transgenic CD4+ T Cells to Immunodeficient Mice
Published on: December 16, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Crohn's Disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease I: Introduction
Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Diagnostic Studies and Management I-Nutritional Therapy
Diagnostic studies
A colonoscopy is the definitive screening test, distinguishing ulcerative colitis from other colon diseases with similar symptoms. During a colonoscopy test, inflamed mucosa with exudate ulcerations can be observed, and biopsies are taken to determine the histologic characteristics of the...
Functions of the Gut Microbiota
Introduction to the Human Microbiota
Inflammatory Bowel Disease II: Ulcerative Colitis