Examination of the role of galectins in intestinal inflammation

The intestine, which provides the first line of defense against over trillion of enteric microorganisms, suffers from broad range of inflammatory conditions caused by infectious, autoimmune, allergic, neurological, and ischemic mechanisms. Recent data have suggested dual roles (protective versus deleterious) for galectins in the pathogenesis of some intestinal inflammations, highlighting the importance of this area of research. A potential problem with the research of intestinal inflammation may be the requirement of some unique techniques. Therefore, we herein describe how to induce intestinal inflammation and how to isolate lymphocyte, myeloid cell, follicular cell, and epithelial cell populations separately from the intestine for the study of intestinal inflammations.