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World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Aug 15, 2013; 4(3): 63-64
Published online Aug 15, 2013. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v4.i3.63
Why is damage limited to the mucosa in ulcerative colitis but transmural in Crohn’s disease?
Xiaofa Qin
Xiaofa Qin, Department of Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, United States
Author contributions: Qin X solely contributed to this paper. Correspondence to: Xiaofa Qin, MD, PhD, Department of Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Avenue, Newark, NJ 07103, United States. qinxi@umdnj.edu
Telephone: +1-973-9722896 Fax: +1-973-9726803
Received: May 12, 2013
Revised: June 8, 2013
Accepted: June 19, 2013
Published online: August 15, 2013
Processing time: 89 Days and 8.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: In my opinion, ulcerative colitis is more like bacterial pneumonia with the involvement of mainly neutrophils, capacious exudates into the cavity but limited damage of the tissue, while Crohn’s disease is more like pneumoconiosis, such as silicosis or berylliosis, or tuberculosis of the lung with the involvement of mainly macrophages and manifested as granulomatous inflammation in the interstices, destruction of the tissue, extensive proliferation of fibroblasts and formation of fibrosis.