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Review Article

A role for Campylobacter jejuni-induced enteritis in inflammatory bowel disease?

¹AAFC ²University of Calgary

Submitted 26 May 2009 ; revision received 7 October 2009 ; accepted in final form 25 October 2009

ABSTRACT

The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are T cell-mediated diseases that are characterized by chronic, relapsing inflammation of the intestinal tract. The pathogenesis of IBD involves the complex interaction between the intestinal microflora, host genetic and immune factors, and environmental stimuli. Epidemiological analyses have implicated acute bacterial enteritis as one of the factors that may incite or exacerbate IBD in susceptible individuals. In this review, we examine how interactions between the common enteric pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, the host intestinal epithelium, and resident intestinal microflora may contribute to the pathogenesis of IBD. Recent experimental evidence indicates that C. jejuni may permit the translocation of normal, non-invasive, microflora via novel processes that implicate epithelial lipid rafts. This breach in intestinal barrier function may in turn prime the intestine for chronic inflammatory responses in susceptible individuals. Insights into the interactions between enteric pathogens, the host epithelia, and intestinal microflora will improve our understanding of disease processes that may initiate and/or exacerbate intestinal inflammation in IBD patients, and provide impetus for the development of new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of IBD.

Campylobacter; Crohn's Disease; intestinal; epithelial