Leaky Gut Syndrome
Leaky gut is a name used to describe intestinal or bowel hyperpermeability. Tight junctions (TJs) represent the major barrier within the pathway between intestinal epithelial cells that line the digestion tract. Disruption of TJs leads to intestinal hyperpermeability (the so-called "leaky gut") which has been proposed by some researchers to involve a relationship with acute and chronic diseases such as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes, allergies, asthma, autism, and acne. Leaky gut syndrome, or increased intestinal permeability, is a proposed condition of an altered or damaged bowel lining. It is hypothesized to be caused by increased permeability of the gut wall resulting from toxins, poor diet, parasites, infection, or medications. The leaky gut then allows substances such as toxins, microbes, undigested food, waste, or larger than normal macromolecules to leak through an abnormally permeable gut wall. Proponents suggest that these out-of-place substances affect the body directly or initiate an immune reaction. While physicians, medical researchers, holistic practitioners, and others generally agree that increased permeability of the intestinal lining is a real phenomenon, there is disagreement over whether this "leakiness", in and of itself, is capable of causing or worsening the diseases in question. |