Therapeutical alternatives in experimental models of inflammatory bowel disease - DOI: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v7i0.6580

Abstract

Experimental models of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) supply considerable information on the pathogenesis of this illness and represent an important tool in testing new strategies of treatment. Crohn’s disease (CD) is an idiopathic, chronic inflammatory condition of the intestinal tract that causes structural and functional changes in the enteric nervous system (ENS), and for which therapeutics options are limited. The use of natural products as alternative therapy for CD has been intensively investigated in animal models of IBD. This review summarizes the major structural abnormalities of the ENS in animal models of Crohn’s disease and the effects of natural products in the inflammatory process. The bibliographical research, of descriptive character, comprises a period of 10 years and was carried through consultation of printed materials and the database of Literatura Latino Americana em Ciências da Saúde e do Caribe (LILACS) and in the National Library of Medicine (MEDLINE), displayed in electronic support. Books have also been used.