Inhibition of Leukocyte Trafficking in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal system that affect more than 1 million persons in the United States and several million worldwide. The precise cause of these diseases remains unknown, but major advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of chronic intestinal inflammation have produced an explosion of new biologic therapies available to treat IBD. This new class of drugs targets specific pathogenic mechanisms of disease, primarily in the form of monoclonal blocking antibodies, and has revolutionized how gastroenterologists treat IBD, significantly improving patients' quality of life . . .