The Role of Intestinal Barrier Function in Early Life in the Development of Colitis

Le résumé fourni par la source

The human intestine has the dual role of allowing absorption of nutrients while also acting as a barrier to prevent pathogens and toxins from entering the body and potentially causing disease. In the immature infant intestine this barrier is underdeveloped and large quantities of macromolecules cross the epithelium into systematic circulation. Consequently infants are susceptible to conditions such as infectious diarrhoea, necrotising enterocolitis and allergic gastroenteropathy (Schreiber & Walker, 1988). It is essential that the infant intestinal barrier matures appropriately because barrier dysfunction in adulthood is a critical factor in predisposition to intestinal diseases (Groschwitz & Hogan, 2009) and is associated with autoimmune diseases in other parts of the body (Cereijido et al., 2007).

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