Laboratory of Nutritional Pathophysiology, National Institute of Gastroenterology "S. de Bellis" Research Hospital, I-70013 Castellana Grotte, Italy.
Dis Markers. 2020 Oct 13;2020:2886268. doi: 10.1155/2020/2886268. eCollection 2020.
The intestinal barrier plays a crucial role in the absorption of nutrients and in preventing the entry of pathogenic microorganisms and toxic molecules. Several studies have shown a compromised intestinal barrier associated with low-grade inflammation in the small intestinal mucosa in celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), particularly in IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D). In light of these new data, IBS is no longer considered a functional disease but rather a heterogeneous syndrome that has yet to be carefully studied. Therefore, investigating the integrity and function of the intestinal barrier is now essential to improving knowledge of the pathophysiology of IBS-D and to improving the management of IBS-D patients. However, the study of the intestinal barrier must clarify some still unsolved methodological aspects and propose standardised assays before becoming a useful diagnostic tool. In this framework, this review will discuss data about the tests that noninvasively evaluate the integrity and functionality of the human intestinal barrier, paying particular attention to patients with IBS-D, in both clinical and research situations.
肠道屏障在营养物质吸收和防止病原微生物和有毒分子进入方面起着至关重要的作用。几项研究表明，在乳糜泻、炎症性肠病和肠易激综合征（IBS）中，特别是在腹泻型肠易激综合征（IBS-D）中，与小肠黏膜低度炎症相关的肠道屏障受损。鉴于这些新数据，IBS 不再被认为是一种功能性疾病，而是一种尚未得到仔细研究的异质性综合征。因此，研究肠道屏障的完整性和功能对于提高对 IBS-D 病理生理学的认识和改善 IBS-D 患者的管理至关重要。然而，肠道屏障的研究必须澄清一些尚未解决的方法学方面的问题，并在成为一种有用的诊断工具之前提出标准化的检测方法。在这个框架内，本综述将讨论关于无创评估人类肠道屏障完整性和功能的检测方法的数据，特别关注 IBS-D 患者，包括临床和研究情况。
