1. Inflammatory Bowel Disease: How Effective Is TNF-α Suppression?
- Author
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Lo, Wing-Cheong, Arsenescu, Violeta, Arsenescu, Razvan I., and Friedman, Avner
- Subjects
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INFLAMMATORY bowel diseases , *CROHN'S disease , *TUMOR necrosis factors , *CYTOKINES , *IMMUNOSUPPRESSION , *T helper cells - Abstract
Crohn’s Disease (CD) results from inappropriate response toward commensal flora. Earlier studies described CD as a Th1 mediated disease. Current models view both phenotypes as a continuum of various permutations between Th1, Th2 and Th17 pathways compounded by a range of Treg disfunctions. In the present paper, we develop a mathematical model, by a system of differential equations, which describe the dynamic relations among these T cells and their cytokines. The model identities four groups of CD patients according to up/down regulation of Th1 and Th2. The model simulations show that immunosuppression by TNF-α blockage benefits the group with Th1High/Th2Low while, by contrast, the group with Th1Low/Th2High will benefit from immune activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
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