ABSTRACT
Infl ammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease of unknown origin, which involves the entire gastrointestinal system. The most usual forms are ulcerative colitis (UC) and Chron’s disease (CD). UC exclusively affects the colon and rectum and is the most common form of IBD worldwide. In UC, mucosa leukocyte infi ltration and epithelium ulceration are the most characteristic pathological fi ndings. On the other hand, CD can affect any part of the gastrointestinal system from the esophagus to the anus, although the small intestine and colon are the areas generally affected by a transmural granulomatous infl ammatory process (Van Assche et al. 2010, Danese and Fiocchi 2011).
