Critical roles of bile acids in regulating intestinal mucosal immune responses

Mucosal immune responses following intestinal nematode infection

In most natural environments, the large majority of mammals harbour parasitic helminths that often live as adults within the intestine for prolonged periods (1-2 years). Although these organisms have been eradicated to a large extent within westernized human populations, those living within rural areas of developing countries continue to suffer from high infection rates. Indeed, recent estimate...

Mucosal Immune Responses

The Varied Roles of Intestinal Mucosal

Introduction Although mast cells have been less thoroughly studied than other immunomodulatory cell types, they are increasingly being shown to play an important role in orchestrating the immune response. Their predominant anatomical locations in the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and genitourinary tracts and near the skin poise them for a unique role in mucosal immunity. Recent studies into th...

Differing roles for short chain fatty acids and GPR43 agonism in the regulation of intestinal barrier function and immune responses

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with a loss of intestinal barrier function and dysregulated immune responses. It has been shown that short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are protective in IBD and that GPR43 mediates the protective effects of SCFAs. In this study, we investigated the effects of SCFAs in comparison to highly specific GPR43 agonists on human intestinal epithelial and imm...

Participation of the intestinal epithelium and mast cells in local mucosal immune responses in commercial poultry.

The intestinal mucosa of commercial poultry is continually subjected to invasion or colonization by a wide array of potentially hostile enteric pathogens. Although, recent investigations have focused on lymphocyte involvement in immune responses in the intestine, lymphocyte-mediated immunity alone will not explain the barrier nature of mucosal membranes associated with rejection of many enteric...