Dept. of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Dept. of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Ageing Res Rev. 2019 Sep;54:100938. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2019.100938. Epub 2019 Jul 29.
The intestinal epithelial barrier protects the mucosa of the gastrointestinal (GI)-tract and plays a key role in maintaining the host homeostasis. It encompasses several elements that include the intestinal epithelium and biochemical and immunological products, such as the mucus layer, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and secretory immunologlobulin A (sIgA). These components are interlinked with the large microbial community inhabiting the gut to form a highly sophisticated biological system that plays an important role on many aspects of human health both locally and systemically. Like any other organ and tissue, the intestinal epithelial barrier is affected by the ageing process. New insights have surfaced showing that critical functions, including intestinal stem cell regeneration and regulation of the intestinal crypt homeostasis, barrier integrity, production of regulatory cytokines, and epithelial innate immunity to pathogenic antigens change across life. Here we review the age-associated changes of the various components of the intestinal epithelial barrier and we highlight the necessity to elucidate further the mechanisms underlying these changes. Expanding our knowledge in this area is a goal of high medical relevance and it will help to define intervention strategies to ameliorate the quality of life of the ever-expanding elderly population.
肠道上皮屏障保护胃肠道（GI）道的黏膜，在维持宿主内环境稳定方面发挥着关键作用。它包括几个要素，如肠道上皮和生化及免疫产物，如黏液层、抗菌肽（AMPs）和分泌型免疫球蛋白 A（sIgA）。这些成分与栖息在肠道中的庞大微生物群落相互关联，形成一个高度复杂的生物系统，在局部和全身多个方面对人类健康起着重要作用。与任何其他器官和组织一样，肠道上皮屏障也受到衰老过程的影响。新的研究结果表明，包括肠道干细胞再生和调节肠道隐窝内稳态、屏障完整性、调节细胞因子产生以及上皮固有免疫对病原体抗原的作用在内的关键功能在整个生命周期中都会发生变化。在这里，我们回顾了肠道上皮屏障各个组成部分与年龄相关的变化，并强调了进一步阐明这些变化背后机制的必要性。扩大我们在这一领域的知识具有高度的医学相关性，有助于确定改善不断扩大的老年人口生活质量的干预策略。
