Chapter category: Immunology

Structure and Function of the Gastrointestinal Mucosa

This chapter appears in the following book:

Oral Tolerance: The Response of the Intestinal Mucosa to Dietary Antigens

Edited by: Olivier Morteau
ISBN: 0-306-47989-3
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Mona Bajaj-Elliott and Ian R. Sanderson

[+] view image

The large mucosal surface of the gastrointestinal tract faces many challenges while maintaining overall body metabolic integrity.1,2 The primary function of the small intestine is to digest and absorb essential nutrients from the complex milieu of the gut lumen into the circulation.3 The mucosal surface extends to the largest area of the body in direct contact with the external environment, which leads to greater exposure to potential noxious stimuli (digestive enzymes, bile salts, acids, pathogenic bacteria). The gut also harbours a wide range of commensal nonpathogenic microflora, some of which are vital for the development of the intestine.4 The vast array of ingested antigens and the gut flora form the major constituents of the gut lumen. This is particularly true for the distal ileum and the colon where the resident anaerobic bacteria exist in very high (108 to 1012 bacteria/gram of luminal contents) concentrations.5 To deal with this continuous and diverse antigenic exposure, a unique immune system exists at the surface of the gastrointestinal tract, which is distinct from the systemic immune system.6 Normal tissue homeostasis in the small intestine is maintained by exquisite interplay between the contents of the gut lumen, the surface epithelium and the immune cells in the lamina propria. The structure and the function of these various cellular constituents that provide dynamic cross-talk between the gut luminal environment and the appropriate host response are the subject of this review.

» Access chapter for $19

Additional chapters from this book:

Clinical Applications of Oral Tolerance

Howard L. Weiner

Oral tolerance has classically been defined as the specific suppression of cellular and/or humoral immune responses to an antigen by prior administration of the antigen by the oral route. It presuma...

Physiopathology of Celiac Disease

Katri Kaukinen, Markku Meki and Pekka Collin

In celiac disease, ingestion of gluten results in T-cell-mediated small bowel mucosal damage characterized by subtotal or severe partial villous atrophy with crypt hyperplasia. A life-long gluten-fr...

Food and Milk Allergies

Mary H. Perdue and Martine Heyman

Oral tolerance is the usual response to antigens encountered via the gut mucosal immune system. However in some individuals, ingestion of food antigens does not result in a down-regulated system, bu...

Induction of Tolerogenic versus Pathogenic Mucosal Immune Responses by Commensal Enteric Bacteria

Dirk Haller and R. Balfour Sartor

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are spontaneously relapsing, immunologically-mediated disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Microbial ...

IgA and Mucosal Homeostasis

Jesper Reinholdt and Steffen Husby

Mucosal surfaces represent the major interface between host and environment. They constitute the point of entry of most infectious pathogens, and are in contact with potentially injurious antigens p...

Cytokines, Cyclooxygenases and Oral Tolerance

Olivier Morteau

The intestinal mucosa faces a perpetual challenge: to allow the entry of minerals and nutrients from the lumen while modulating the immune responses to luminal antigens, in order to prevent mucosal ...

The Role of T Cells in the Intestinal Mucosa

Giovanni Monteleone and Thomas T. MacDonald

The intestine contains the largest population of T cells in the body. This reflects the fact that the intestine has a large surface area continuously exposed to dietary antigens and microorganisms. ...

A Revisit of Current Dogma for the Cellular and Molecular Basis of Oral Tolerance

Kohtaro Fujihashi, Hirotomo Kato and Jerry R. McGhee

Studies of the cellular and molecular mechanisms for oral tolerance have focused on the central importance of CD4+ T cells and their surface co-stimulatory molecules as well as derived cytokines. In...

Oral Tolerance: An Overview

Allan McI Mowat

The diet of all animals contains a wide variety of proteins of animal and vegetable origin, most of which are potentially antigenic. Contrary to much popular belief, a significant proportion of this...

Structure and Function of the Gastrointestinal Mucosa

Mona Bajaj-Elliott and Ian R. Sanderson

Chapter category: Immunology

Structure and Function of the Gastrointestinal Mucosa

Additional chapters from this book:

SIGN IN