Zonulin, a regulator of epithelial and endothelial barrier functions, and its involvement in chronic inflammatory diseases.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review describing biological mechanisms without systematic methodology or primary human data
PubMed 28123927 · doi:10.1080/21688370.2016.1251384
What was done
This is a narrative review summarizing literature on zonulin as a physiological regulator of intercellular tight junctions and detailing its proposed mechanistic role in epithelial barrier dysfunction in chronic inflammatory diseases.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical findings or empirical data. It describes how upregulation of zonulin impairs intestinal epithelial barrier function, permitting uncontrolled influx of dietary and microbial antigens across the submucosa, which may trigger or sustain chronic inflammation.
Why it matters
It provides a conceptual overview linking zonulin-mediated increases in intestinal permeability to the pathogenesis of various chronic inflammatory conditions.
Limits
This is a narrative review without a systematic search strategy, meta-analysis, or risk-of-bias evaluation. No primary human empirical data, sample sizes, or quantitative risk estimates are reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- context In celiac disease, gluten exposure causes intestinal tight junctions to open and stay open, leading to large-scale LPS leakage into circulation.