Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Health

Crohn's blamed on lazy immune cells

By Linda Geddes

18 November 2009

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Gut reaction

(Image: CNRI/SPL)

A MYSTERIOUS bowel disease thought to be caused by an over-exuberant immune system may paradoxically be triggered by immune cells that don’t do enough in the early stages of bacterial infection.

Since some treatments for Crohn’s disease aim to suppress the immune system, it’s possible these drugs could be making things worse. The discovery by of University College London and his colleagues is causing a stir among immunologists. Caetano Reis e Sousa at Cancer Research UK calls it “provocative”, while at The Rockefeller University in New York says it is “a…

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