Promising biological therapies for ulcerative colitis: A review of the literature

Figure 1 A mechanism of action that works to reduce inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract (Reprinted with permission from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. ). Vedolizumab selectively inhibits the movement of a discrete subset of T lymphocytes that preferentially migrate into inflamed GI tissue. Vedolizumab specifically binds to the α4β7 integrin, blocking its interaction with MAdCAM-1, which is mainly expressed on gut endothelial cells. This interaction facilitates lymphocyte homing to the gut and is an important contributor to inflammation that is a hallmark of ulcerative colitis. GI: Gastrointestinal; MAdCAM-1: Mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1; IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease; CCR: Chemokine receptor; IL: Interleukine; IFN-γ: Interferon-γ.