Alterations in intestinal permeability

He goal of this review is to describe barrier function of the intestine, the structure of the tight junction, methods to evaluate intestinal permeability, and most importantly the relevance of abnormal permeability to disease. In this context, we will also present an emerging paradigm regarding the genesis of autoimmune diseases and describe the data that supports this from the perspective of both human disease and animal models. While this is a complicated area there are several points worth remembering: c epithelial permeability of the gastrointestinal tract can be evaluated in a site specific manner; c increased intestinal permeability is observed in association with several autoimmune diseases.