Dr. Elizabeth R. Raskin, surgical director for the Margolis Family Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Program within the Digestive Health Institute at Hoag, not involved in the research, told MNT: “Interestingly, when IL-1 receptors were deficient or dysfunctional in mice, they were unable to clear particular bacteria found in their intestines. On the other hand, the IL-R deficient mice were seemingly protected from developing lab-induced colitis. These findings help our understanding of the interplay between the microbiome and our intestinal cells.”