Leaky gut – concept or clinical entity?
- 1 March 2016
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Current Opinion in Gastroenterology
- Vol. 32 (2), 74-79
- https://doi.org/10.1097/mog.0000000000000243
Abstract
This article evaluates the current status of the gut barrier in gastrointestinal disorders.The gut barrier is a complex, multicomponent, interactive, and bidirectional entity that includes, but is not restricted to, the epithelial cell layer. Intestinal permeability, the phenomenon most readily and commonly studied, reflects just one (albeit an important one) function of the barrier that is intimately related to and interacts with luminal contents, including the microbiota. The mucosal immune response also influences barrier integrity; effects of inflammation per se must be accounted for in the interpretation of permeability studies in disease states.Although several aspects of barrier function can be assessed in man, one must be aware of exactly what a given test measures, as well as of its limitations. The temptation to employ results from a test of paracellular flux to imply a role for barrier dysfunction in disorders thought to be based on bacterial or macromolecular translocation must be resisted. Although changes in barrier function have been described in several gastrointestinal disorders, their primacy remains to be defined. At present, few studies support efficacy for an intervention that improves barrier function in altering the natural history of a disease process.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- Intestinal permeability – a new target for disease prevention and therapyBMC Gastroenterology, 2014
- Intestinal barrier: A gentlemen’s agreement between microbiota and immunityWorld Journal of Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology, 2014
- Bifidobacteria Stabilize Claudins at Tight Junctions and Prevent Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction in Mouse Necrotizing EnterocolitisThe American Journal of Pathology, 2013
- Central Role of the Gut Epithelial Barrier in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Intestinal Inflammation: Lessons Learned from Animal Models and Human GeneticsFrontiers in Immunology, 2013
- Intestinal barrier function in health and gastrointestinal diseaseNeurogastroenterology & Motility, 2012
- Epithelial Barriers in Homeostasis and DiseaseAnnual Review Of Pathology-Mechanisms Of Disease, 2010
- Intestinal mucosal barrier function in health and diseaseNature Reviews Immunology, 2009
- A Transient Breach in the Epithelial Barrier Leads to Regulatory T-Cell Generation and Resistance to Experimental ColitisGastroenterology, 2008
- Molecular Basis of Epithelial Barrier Regulation: From Basic Mechanisms to Clinical ApplicationThe American Journal of Pathology, 2006
- PASSCLAIM1?Gut health and immunityEuropean Journal of Nutrition, 2004