Mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease.

The past decade has seen an abundance of new mouse models that mimic the human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. These mouse models of IBD have provided great insight into the potential mechanisms that drive homeostatic dysregulation in the intestine, which manifests as mucosal inflammation. Within this review, the different animal models that have been employed to gain a greater understanding of the pathogenesis of IBD are discussed and some of the new biological drugs that have emerged as potential therapeutics as a result of these mouse modeling studies are reviewed.