Immune Pathogenesis of Intestinal Inflammatory Diseases

Intestinal inflammatory diseases, such as necrotizing enterocolitis, and inflammatory bowel disease, are becoming increasingly prevalent. While knowledge of the pathogenesis of these related diseases is currently incomplete, each of these conditions is thought to involve a dysfunctional, or overstated, host immunological response to both bacteria and dietary antigens, resulting in intestinal inflammation and, often, alterations in the intestinal microbiome. Dysregulated immune responses represented by aberrant cytokines production and immune cell infiltration and mucosal damage are the key hallmarks of intestinal inflammatory diseases. Evidence from recent studies highlighted the essential role of gut microbiota and their fermentation products (e.g. short-chain fatty acids) in “education” of the intestinal immune system, while the mechanisms through which dysbiotic gut microbiome involves in the pathogenesis and progression of intestinal inflammatory diseases is largely unclear. Efforts are required to improve our understanding of the crosstalk between gut microbiota and host immune system; in particular, questions as to how microbial-derived metabolites and bacterial antigens modulate innate and adaptive immune cells and the barrier functions of gut epithelium should be further addressed in future research. Identification of the underlying modular pathways will uncover opportunities for development of novel interventions and therapeutic treatments for intestinal inflammatory diseases.

The goal of this Research Topic is to provide a forum to advance research on the contribution of intestinal immunity and gut microflora to the development of intestinal inflammatory diseases as well as to explore innovative gut-oriented pharmacological interventions in the attempt to achieve a beneficial impact on chronic disease course.

We are delighted to announce the call for papers for the Research Topic that addresses the recent research advances in intestinal inflammatory diseases. Research subjects will mainly cover pigs and mice as animal model, but studies on human are also welcome. For this Research Topic, both Reviews and Original Research articles will be considered. Papers that focus on the following research areas are strongly encouraged for submission:

• Molecular pathways of immune cell-mediated intestinal inflammation and tissue injury in intestinal inflammatory diseases;
• The crosstalk between microbiota and the host mucosal immune system;
• Changes in tight junction proteins and barrier functions in condition of chronical enteric inflammation;
• Nutritional immune interventions for preventative and/or therapeutic treatments of intestinal inflammatory diseases.