NLRP3 inflammasome as causative and protecting factor in pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are a group of chronic and globally appearing conditions that significantly decrease patientsâ quality of life. The main representatives of IBD are Crohnâs disease and ulcerative colitis. Although the etiology of IBD is still not fully understood, the NLRP3 inflammasome is one of the most promising targets of research in this field. The NLRP3 inflammasome is a functional complex, which is activated in damage- and pathogen-associated molecular patterns-dependent manner and is responsible for production of proinflammatory interleukin(IL)-1β and IL-18, because of which it participates in the inflammatory process underlying IBD. However, in recent years the NLRP3 inflammasome has gained attention as a potential protective factor against IBD being involved in maintaining homeostasis of intestinal mucosa and controlling intestinal microbiome. In our review we discuss the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in IBD pathogenesis as both causative and protecting factor.