IAH AC Gastrointestinal Disease

Mucosal distress (2)
• Examples, where mucosal breakdown is implicated in disease:
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Arthritis (sero-negative and rheumatoid arthritis)
• Septicemia following extensive burns
• Allergy
• Skin disease e.g. psoriasis
© IAH 2007
13
Many systemic diseases are now linked to mucosal distress, such as IBD, where
it is for instance known that patients suffering from Crohn’s disease will have a
higher incidence of leaky gut just before a relapse, and that a high percentage of
their siblings will have a leaky gut,even without having Crohn’s disease.
Rheumatoid arthritis is closely linked with bacterial endotoxins in the gut, to the
point that tetracycline is a common treatment for RA. If the gut is leaky, more of
these endotoxins can enter the body and cause disease.
The mucosa also leans itself to manipulation of the immune system in these type
of diseases.
A large number of researches are currently looking at the effect of oral tolerance
on disease. For e.g., in Crohn’s disease:
Margalit M, Israeli E et al.
A double-blind clinical trial for treatment of Crohn's disease by oral
administration of Alequel, a mixture of autologous colon-extracted
proteins: a patient-tailored approach. Am J Gastroenterol. 2006
Mar;101(3):
13