| [ Summary ] |
Recent studies have demonstrated that the gut microbiota plays a critical role not only in maintaining human health but also in causing and/or perpetuating disease, including the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is largely defined by 2 chronic inflammatory disorders, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), which together affect more than 200,000 people in Japan. One recent advance in IBD research is the identification of structural and functional alterations of the gut microbial community (dysbiosis). However, the etiological role of specific bacterial species in the pathophysiology remains unclear. It is generally recognized that the gut microbiota is deeply involved in the development of intestinal inflammation and plays a causal role in the pathophysiology of IBD. Based on this concept, therapeutic approaches targeting the gut microbiota have been developed, and some may be clinically applied to patients with IBD. |