Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:10:36.902Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Nutritional factors and immune functions of gut epithelium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2007

Ian R. Sanderson*
Affiliation:
Department of Adult and Paediatric Gastroenterology, St Bartholomew's and The Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Turner Street, London E1 2AD, UK
*
Corresponding Author: Professor I. R. Sanderson, fax +44 20 7882 7192, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The intestinal epithelium acts as a barrier to the external environment contained within the lumen of the gut. It also transports solutes for nutrition and for immunological surveillance. The present review develops the hypothesis that changes in diet, through the composition of the lumen environment, alter the expression of genes in the epithelium. These genes include those that encode for proteins that signal to the mucosal immune system. Directly changing the expression of signalling molecules in the intestinal epithelium using transgenic techniques alters immune function. For example, up regulation of the chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein-2 increases neutrophil recruitment. Furthermore, lumen molecules such as short-chain fatty acids regulate chemokine expression by epithelial cells. By this means, the epithelium acts as a transducing monolayer signalling between the contents of the intestine and the mucosal immune system.

Type
Symposium on ‘Dietary influences on mucosal immunity’
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2001

References

Fusunyan, RD, Quinn, JJ, Fujimoto, M, MacDermott, RP & Sanderson, IR (1999) Butyrate switches the pattern of chemokine secretion by intestinal epithelial cells through histone acetylation. Molecular Medicine 5, 631640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Midtvedt, AC & Midtvedt, T (1992) Production of short chain fatty acids by the intestinal microflora during the first 2 years of human life. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 15, 395403.Google ScholarPubMed
Naik, S, Kelly, EJ, Meijer, L, Pettersson, S & Sanderson, IR (2001) Absence of Toll-like receptor 4 explains endotoxin hyporesponsiveness in human intestinal epithelium. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 32, 449453.Google ScholarPubMed
Nishimura, A, Fujimoto, M, Oguchi, S, Fusunyan, RD, MacDermott, RP & Sanderson, IR (1998) Short chain fatty acids regulate IGF binding protein secretion by intestinal epithelial cells. American Journal of Physiology 275, E55E63.Google ScholarPubMed
Oguchi, S, Walker, WA & Sanderson, IR (1994) Profile of IGF-binding proteins secreted by human intestinal epithelial cells changes with differentiation. American Journal of Physiology 267, G843G850.Google ScholarPubMed
Ohno, Y, Lee, J, Fusunyan, RD, MacDermott, RP & Sanderson, IR (1997) Macrophage inflammatory protein-2: chromosomal regulation in rat intestinal epithelial cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 94, 1027910284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohtsuka, Y, Lee, J, Stamm, DS & Sanderson, IR (2001) MIP-2 secreted by epithelial cells increases neutrophil and lymphocyte recruitment in the mouse intestine. Gut (In the Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanderson, IR, Boulton, P, Menzies, I & Walker-Smith, JA (1987 a) Improvement of abnormal lactulose/rhamnose permeability in active Crohn's disease of the small bowel by an elemental diet. Gut 28, 10731076.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanderson, IR & Naik, S (2000) Dietary regulation of intestinal gene expression. Annual Review of Nutrition 20, 311338.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanderson, IR, Ouellette, AJ, Carter, EA & Harmatz, PR (1993) Ontogeny of Ia messenger RNA in the mouse intestinal epithelium is modulated by age of weaning and diet. Gastroenterology 105, 974980.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanderson, IR, Udeen, S, Davies, PSW, Savage, MO & Walker-Smith, JA (1987 b) Remission induced by an elemental diet in small bowel Crohn's disease. Archives of Disease in Childhood 62, 123127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanderson, IR & Walker, WA (1993) Uptake and transport of macromolecules by the intestine: Possible roles in clinical disorders (an update). Gastroenterology 104, 622639.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanderson, IR & Walker, WA (1999) Mucosal barrier. In Handbook of Mucosal Immunology, 2nd ed., pp. 517 [Ogra, R, Mestecky, J, McGhee, J, Bienenstock, J, Lamm, M and Strober, W, editors.] London: Academic Press.Google Scholar