Inflammatory bowel disease: immunologic concepts.

The past decade has been characterized by an enormous progress in the understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic intestinal inflammation. Novel drugs, which include tumor necrosis factor alpha binding proteins (i.e., the monoclonal antibody infliximab), have been introduced into the therapeutic management of Crohn's disease. With our increasing knowledge of disease pathophysiology and the identification of key mediators, it is to be expected that the efficacy of anti-inflammatory therapy will further increase. The exploration of the genetic etiology of inflammatory bowel disease holds great future promises.