Figure 1
From: Gut permeability and mucosal inflammation: bad, good or context dependent
The intestinal epithelium constitutes a physical and biochemical barrier to separate effectively the luminal antigens and mucosal immune system. (a) A pathological breach in the mucosal barrier induces hyperactivation of the mucosal immune system and chronic inflammation. (b) However, a leaky gut due to opening of the tight junctions alone may not be sufficient to induce mucosal inflammation, but rather can induce adaptive immune response due to the heightened immune system. The ultimate outcome may depend on potential non-junctional effect/s of the barrier-associated protein/s modified under inflammatory conditions.
