Crohn’s patients and healthy infants share immunodominant B cell response to commensal flagellin peptide epitopes

Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic manifestation of dysregulated immune response to the gut microbiota in genetically pre-disposed hosts. Nearly half of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) develop selective serum IgG response to flagellin proteins expressed by bacteria in the Lachnospiraceae family. This study aimed to identify the binding epitopes of these IgG antibodies and assess their relevance in CD and in homeostasis.