Role of protease and self-digestion in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease / 医学研究生学报

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are non-specific inflammatory diseases of unknown cause, mainly including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. IBDs have some similarities to peptic ulcer diseases (PUD) in clinical manifestations, histopathological changes and treatment strategies, and therefore pepsin might have a similar effect on both PUD and IBD. Recent studies show that “self-digestion” induced by digestive enzymes, especially trypsin, may play an important role in the development and progression of IBD. This article focuses on the role of mucosal barrier injury induced by trypsin and self-digestion in the formation of digestive ulcer in IBD.