The Similarities and Differences Between the Two Types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The Similarities and Differences Between the Two Types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
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Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The two types of inflammatory bowel disease are Chron’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). The main difference lies in the location of the inflammation along the gastrointestinal tract where CD mainly involves the distal small intestines (ileum and cecum), while UC involves the superficial parts of the colon and rectum. The majority of UC cases also occur in young adults (Koh, Abraham, & Shih, 2018).
Pathophysiology
In ulcerative colitis, there is a prominent epithelial barrier defect, problems in immune response and leukocyte activation, and the microorganisms in the colon (Abraham, Ahmed, & Ali, 2017). There is a defect in colonic mucin in the epithelial barrier and tight junctions, thereby increasing the uptake of antigens in the lumen. Furthermore, an increase in the toll-like receptors (TLR2 and TLR4) contribute to the inflammation. There is also en evidence of the involvement of T-helper cells, particularly Th2-cells, which produces a toxic response to the epithelial cells (Lynch & Hsu, 2018).
By contrast to the superficial inflammation in ulcerative colitis, Chron’s disease disease occurs in the crypts of Liberkuhn and causes inflammation and abscesses. This advances to become small, focal, apthoid ulcers in the mucosa. These focal lesions eventually become longitudinal and transverse ulcers. These, in combination with edema, results to a cobblestoned manifestation in the GIT (Sachar & Walfish, 2013).
Clinical Manifestations
CD presents as abdominal pain and diarrhea in 75%, while recurrent fever is evident in 50% of the patients. In patients with predominant ileal...