Spatial features of skip lesions in Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease is characterized by skip lesions with inflamed and adjacent non-inflamed mucosae in the small intestine and colon. Understanding the spatial organization of various regions within skip lesions can provide answers to their development and persistence. Alterations in the epithelium, lamina propria, and immune landscape have been noted in skip lesions. Host–microbiota interactions and intestinal barrier architecture are affected by inflammation, yet the measured changes are contradictory. Emerging techniques and technologies provide the foundation for uncovering spatial differences within skip lesions and applying the findings to improve candidate diagnostics, treatments, and identifying risk of recurrence. CD is characterized by enigmatic skip lesions, defined by discrete areas of inflammation demarcated from adjacent uninflamed regions. Their etiology and impact in CD might be solved by analyzing spatial analytic parameters in specific mucosal localities of inflamed and adjacent non-inflamed tissues, including microbial interactions, intestinal barrier, lamina propria, immune landscape, and mesenteric tissues. Recent technological advancements have increased our understanding of the spatial and functional changes within these lesions, including those involving host cells, mucus, and the microbiome, thus garnering a better understanding of mucosal tissue inflammation. Skip lesions are an enigmatic spatial feature characterizing Crohn's disease (CD). They comprise inflamed and adjacent non-inflamed tissue sections with a clear demarcation. Currently, spatial features of the human gastrointestinal (GI) system lack clarity regarding the organization of microbes, mucus, tissue, and host cells during inflammation. New technologies with multiplexing abilities and innovative approaches provide ways of examining the spatial organization of inflamed and non-inflamed tissues in CD, which may open new avenues for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. In this review, we present evidence of the relevance of spatial context in patients with CD and the methods and ideas recently published in studies of spatiality during inflammation. With this review, we aim to provide inspiration for further research to address existing gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]