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The Importance of the Gut Barrier

Eagle Clinical Health & Wellness Blog - The Importance of the Gut Barrier

The gut barrier is a protective, selectively permeable structure that enables the absorption of essential dietary nutrients, electrolytes and water from the intestinal lumen into circulation while preventing harmful or unwanted substances (e.g. food antigens and endotoxins) from entering the internal environment.[1]

Dysfunction of the gut barrier due to stress, pathogens or immunological challenge is associated with increased gut permeability and the development of gastrointestinal diseases.[2] Under compromised conditions, permeability becomes vulnerable to dysfunction, negatively impacting gastrointestinal and systemic health.

Impaired intestinal barrier function contributes to many chronic inflammatory conditions including inflammatory bowel disease [3,4] and other autoimmune conditions,[5] cardiometabolic disease[6,7] and neuroinflammatory conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease[8] and depression.[9,10]

Repairing mucosal damage, supporting commensal bacterial populations and reducing inflammation helps to manage these conditions and support digestive health.[AB1]

  1. Groschwitz KR, Hogan SP. Intestinal barrier function: molecular regulation and disease pathogenesis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009 Jul;124(1):3-22.
  2. Wang B, et al. Glutamine and intestinal barrier function. Amino Acids. 2015 Oct;47(10):2143-2154.
  3. Santana PT, et al. Dysbiosis in inflammatory bowel disease: pathogenic role and potential therapeutic targets. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Mar;23(7):3464.
  4. Candelli M, et al. Interaction between lipopolysaccharide and gut microbiota in inflammatory bowel diseases. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jun;22(12):6242.
  5. An J, et al. The role of intestinal mucosal barrier in autoimmune disease: a potential target. Front Immunol. 2022;13:871713.
  6. Moludi J, et al. Metabolic endotoxemia and cardiovascular disease: a systematic review about potential roles of prebiotics and probiotics. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2020 Jun;47(6):927-939.
  7. Salguero MV, et al. Dysbiosis of Gram-negative gut microbiota and the associated serum lipopolysaccharide exacerbates inflammation in type 2 diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease. Exp Ther Med. 2019 Nov;18(5):3461-3469.
  8. Marizzoni M, et al. Short-chain fatty acids and lipopolysaccharide as mediators between gut dysbiosis and amyloid pathology in Alzheimer's disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2020;78(2):683-697.
  9. Liu L, et al. Gut microbiota and its metabolites in depression: from pathogenesis to treatment. EBioMedicine. 2023 Apr;90:104527.
  10. Maes M, et al. The gut-brain barrier in major depression: intestinal mucosal dysfunction with an increased translocation of LPS from gram negative enterobacteria (leaky gut) plays a role in the inflammatory pathophysiology of depression. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2008 Feb;29(1):117-124.