Abstract
The intestinal mucosa is exposed to a myriad of infectious and food antigens, and a unique barrier mechanism by the mucosal immune system handles them on the mucosal surface. Such mucosal defense mechanisms maintain homeostasis of intestinal functions and structure. Anatomic associations exist between nerve fibers and cellular components of the immune system, which is also regulated in part by the central nervous and endocrine systems acting principally via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Leptin, the product of the ob gene regulates food intake as well as metabolic and endocrine functions, and also plays a regulatory role in immune-inflammatory responses, suggesting that these regulatory systems interplay one another in human body. Abrogation of these mucosal defense and regulatory mechanisms may alter mucosa defense mechanisms in the intestinal tract and be involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease.
