A method of treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises collectingregulatory T cells in an activated or non-activated state from a patient'ssentinel lypmph nodes draining bowel segments with or without IBD, optionallyactivating the cells by contacting them with a cytokine and an antigen extractobtained from an inflamed bowel segment, expanding the T cells in vitro, andre-infusing the expanded T cells to the patient. Also disclosed are methodsfor obtaining sentinel nodes, for expanding T cells, for re-establishing theTH1/TH2 balance in the patient suffering from Crohn's disease, andcorresponding uses of the expanded T cells, the cytokines and of antigenextract, as well as of correspondingly activated and expanded T cells.
