Gut-lung crosstalk in pulmonary involvement with inflammatory bowel diseases

Figure 2 Summary model of plausible mechanisms of lung-intestine communication underlying inflammatory bowel disease-associated pulmonary involvement. The lungs and intestines are a pair of mutually affected organs. The airways may intrinsically accompany inflammation of the bowel. This distal intrinsic inflammatory response may relate to the common features between the lung and intestine. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lung and intestine have internal and external relationships (Biao-Li). This distal intrinsic inflammatory response may relate to the “social manner” of cells and molecules.