Increased Mucosal Thrombin is Associated with Crohn's Disease and Causes Inflammatory Damage through Protease-activated Receptors Activation.

Our data demonstrated that increased local thrombin activity, as it occurs in the colon of patients with inflammatory bowel disease, causes mucosal damage and inflammation. Colonic thrombin and protease-activated receptor-1 appear as possible mechanisms involved in mucosal damage and loss of function and therefore represent potential therapeutic targets for treating inflammatory bowel disease.