Role of Inflammation in the Pathogenesis of Diverticular Disease

Abstract

Diverticulosis of the colon is the most common condition in Western societies and it is the most common anatomic alteration of the human colon. Recurrent abdominal pain is experienced by about 20% of patients with diverticulosis, but the pathophysiologic mechanisms of its occurrence are not completely understood. In the last years, several fine papers have showed clearly the role of low-grade inflammation both in the occurrence of symptoms in people having diverticulosis, both in symptom persistence following acute diverticulitis, even if the evidence available is not so strong. We do not know yet what the trigger of this low-grade inflammation occurrence is. However, some preliminary evidence found colonic dysbiosis linked to low-grade inflammation and therefore to symptom occurrence in those patients. The aim of this paper is to summarize current evidences about the role of inflammation in symptom occurrence in symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease and in symptom persistence after an episode of acute diverticulitis.