Therapeutic Potential to Modify the Mucus Barrier in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Nutrients

Jing Sun¹  Xiao Shen¹  Yi Li²  Zhen Guo²  Weiming Zhu¹  Lugen Zuo²  Jie Zhao²  Lili Gu²  Jianfeng Gong² 

[1] Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, 305 East Zhongshan Road, Nanjing 210002, China

关键词: mucus barrier;    inflammatory bowel disease;    bacterial penetration;    nutrients;    immune;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu8010044

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Recently, numerous studies have shown that disruption of the mucus barrier plays an important role in the exacerbation of inflammatory bowel disease, particularly in ulcerative colitis. Alterations in the mucus barrier are well supported by published data and are widely accepted. The use of fluorescence in situ hybridization and Carnoy’s fixation has revealed the importance of the mucus barrier in maintaining a mutualistic relationship between host and bacteria. Studies have raised the possibility that modulation of the mucus barrier may provide therapies for the disease, using agents such as short-chain fatty acids, prebiotics and probiotics. This review describes changes in the mucus barrier of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and in animal models of the disease. We also review the involvement of the mucus barrier in the exacerbation of the disease and explore the therapeutic potential of modifying the mucus barrier with short-chain fatty acids, prebiotics, probiotics, fatty acid synthase, H₂S, neutrophil elastase inhibitor and phophatidyl choline.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.