Oxidative stress and inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing and remitting inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. The exact cause of IBD remains undetermined, the condition appears to be related to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. While many gaps in our knowledge still exist, the last two decades have witnessed an unprecedented progress not only in the etiology ; but mainly in the mechanisms underlying the chronic inflammatory response, immunologic and genetic aspects. We review some recent points of research in pathogenesis with special stress on oxidative stress and its correlations with disease activity.