Clinical tests for intestinal permeability: 'Sweet' transition from clinical to basic physiology

摘要

The integrity of the intestinal barrier is of major importance for health and quality of life, as corresponding perturbations are integral to a number of diseases (as discussed in an excellent recent review).[1] Clinical tests for intestinal permeability are a remarkably useful tool for the assessment of the recovery of the intestinal barrier after inflammatory conditions accompanying the associated diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis, to name a few.[2] As with any analytical technique, there is room for improvement, and further basic and clinical research is required to find novel methods and fine tune existing assays for examining the integrity of the mucosal barrier.