How do intestinal probiotics restore the intestinal barrier?

Abstract

The intestinal barrier is a structure that prevents harmful substances, such as bacteria and endotoxins, from penetrating the intestinal wall and entering human tissues, organs, and microcirculation. It can separate colonizing microbes from systemic tissues and prevent the invasion of pathogenic bacteria. Pathological conditions such as shock, trauma, stress, and inflammation damage the intestinal barrier to varying degrees, aggravating the primary disease. Intestinal probiotics are a type of active microorganisms beneficial to the health of the host and an essential element of human health. Reportedly, intestinal probiotics can affect the renewal of intestinal epithelial cells, and also make cell connections closer, increase the production of tight junction proteins and mucins, promote the development of the immune system, regulate the release of intestinal antimicrobial peptides, compete with pathogenic bacteria for nutrients and living space, and interact with the host and intestinal commensal flora to restore the intestinal barrier. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of how intestinal probiotics restore the intestinal barrier to provide new ideas for treating intestinal injury-related diseases.

Weaning stress and intestinal health of piglets: A review

“…The intestinal immune barrier is a well-developed and complex local immune system, which mainly composed of immune organs, immune cells (intraepithelial lymphocytes, lamina propria lymphocytes, neutrophils, and macrophages), and immune molecules (antibacterial peptides, immunoglobulins, and cytokines) ( 2 , 67 , 102 , 103 ). The intestinal immune barrier is important for recognizing exogenous antigenic stimuli while ensuring that the animal body is not over-sensitive to harmless antigens ( 35 , 104 ).…”

The gut microbiota–bile acid axis: A potential therapeutic target for liver fibrosis

“…Gut microbiota can affect intestinal barrier functions via a variety of mechanisms ( Chopyk and Grakoui, 2020 ). Disturbed gut microbiota can impair the intestinal barrier function by disrupting the tight intercellular junctions among intestinal epithelial cells, causing an intestinal inflammatory response, inhibiting mucin production, reducing the release of intestinal antimicrobial peptides, and promoting the growth of pathogenic bacteria ( Wells et al., 2017 ; Hiippala et al., 2018 ; Chopyk and Grakoui, 2020 ; Paone and Cani, 2020 ; Gou et al., 2022 ). Correcting this imbalanced gut microbiota can result in intestinal barrier repair, inhibiting the development of liver fibrosis.…”

Comparison of the Effects of Acute Appendicitis and Chronic Cholecystitis on Intestinal Mucosal Function During Surgery

“…Cholecystolithiasis is related to abnormal intestinal mucosal barrier function leading to bacterial translocation, thus causing the formation of gallstones [23]. Inoculating guinea pigs with pathogenic bacteria involved in human cholecystitis resulted in increased permeability of the intestinal mucosal barrier and abnormal expression of structural proteins [24]. For patients with obstructive jaundice, preoperative probiotics can improve intestinal mucosal permeability after biliary drainage [25].…”