China
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Nutrition Part I
Published in Mark C Houston, The Truth About Heart Disease, 2023
About 1% of the public has celiac disease and perhaps another 6–7% have verified gluten sensitivity with dramatic changes in the appearance of their gastrointestinal tract when it is consumed on a regular basis (163). A key consequence of the damage to the intestinal wall lining is that the normally tight junctions that bind cells lining the gastrointestinal (GI) tract become loose. When these junctions are loose, the contents of the GI tract can enter the wall of the bowels and then enter into the bloodstream. Many studies have shown that, after a fatty meal, a wave of inflammation and endotoxins enter the bloodstream and may remain present for hours (6,9,10). When gliadin, a component of gluten-containing foods like bread, is present in the intestines of those with celiac or gluten sensitivity, a newly discovered protein called zonulin is released into the gut (163). Zonulin is now thought to have a potential role not only in celiac disease but also Type 1 diabetes, obesity, and other immune illnesses (163). It has been shown to be the “crowbar” that opens tight junctions and leads to autoimmune responses, such as a leaky GI tract (163). The ability to measure blood levels of zonulin may revolutionize our understanding of GI, autoimmune, and other systemic diseases.
Nutrition, the Mediterranean Diet and Selected Supplements for the Prevention and Treatment of Coronary Heart Disease
Published in Stephen T. Sinatra, Mark C. Houston, Nutritional and Integrative Strategies in Cardiovascular Medicine, 2022
About 1% of the public has celiac disease, and perhaps another 6%–7% have verified gluten sensitivity with dramatic changes in the appearance of their gastrointestinal tract [164]. A key consequence of the damage to the intestinal wall lining is that the normally tight junctions that bind cells lining the gastrointestinal (GI) tract become loose. When these junctions are loose, the contents of the GI tract can enter the wall of the bowels and then enter into the bloodstream. Many studies have shown that after a fatty meal, a wave of inflammation and endotoxins enter the bloodstream and may remain present for hours [6,9,10]. When gliadin, a component of gluten-containing foods like bread, is present in the intestines of those with celiac or gluten sensitivity, a newly discovered protein called zonulin is released into the gut [164]. Zonulin is now thought to have a potential role not only in celiac disease but also in type 1 diabetes, obesity and other immune illnesses [164]. Zonulin has been shown to be the “crowbar” that opens tight junctions and leads to autoimmune responses such as a leaky GI tract [164]. The ability to measure blood levels of zonulin may revolutionize our understanding of GI, autoimmune, and other systemic diseases. A pharmaceutical molecule that is a zonulin blocker (AT-1001) is being developed to determine if a patient with celiac disease can consume wheat products without damage.
Lifestyle and Its Relationship to Pain
Published in Sahar Swidan, Matthew Bennett, Advanced Therapeutics in Pain Medicine, 2020
One common factor among the foods on this list is the induction of insulin and increase in visceral fat. Another is the increase in zonulin proteins that regulate intestinal permeability. This has been linked to inflammation, autoimmunity, and cancer.14
Epithelial integrity, junctional complexes, and biomarkers associated with intestinal functions
Published in Tissue Barriers, 2022
Arash Alizadeh, Peyman Akbari, Johan Garssen, Johanna Fink-Gremmels, Saskia Braber
Zonulin is identified as a protein that modulates intestinal permeability by disassembling the intercellular tight junctions and appears to play a key role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.144 Zonulin has been nominated as the potential biomarker in different pathological conditions, including autoimmune (ankylosing spondylitis, celiac, Crohn’s diseases, Systemic lupus erythematosus, type 1 diabetes) diseases, nervous system diseases (schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis) and neoplastic circumstances (oral squamous cell carcinoma, lung, ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancers).144–150 Watts et al. reported that the loss of intestinal barrier function induced by zonulin plays a role in pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes, and zonulin upregulation was associated with increased gut permeability in subjects with type 1 diabetes. In this way zonulin measurement can precede the onset of diabetes and a zonulin inhibitor might preserve beta cell function at an early state.151
Association of adverse outcomes of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy with zonulin levels
Published in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2021
Cigdem Damla Deniz, Sibel Ozler, Fatma Kubra Sayın
Blood samples were obtained by venipuncture at the same gestational week and processed within 1 h after withdrawal by centrifugation at 5000 rpm for 15 min, and all serum samples were stored at −80 °C until the day of analysis. All participants were followed until delivery. Serum zonulin levels were assessed at the time of the initial diagnosis of ICP. Serum zonulin was measured by an ELISA technique used for the quantitative determination of human zonulin concentrations in serum, plasma, and biological fluids. The kit was provided by Elabscience Biotechnology (Wuhan, China). Analytical intra-assay sensitivity was 0.47 ng/mL. No significant cross-reactivity or interference between Human Zonulin and analogues was observed. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variability (CV%) for zonulin were as follows: <5.7 and <5.2%, respectively. The optical density is measured spectrophotometrically at a wavelength of 450 ± 2 nm.
Role of microbiota and related metabolites in gastrointestinal tract barrier function in NAFLD
Published in Tissue Barriers, 2021
Maria Victoria Fernandez-Cantos, Diego Garcia-Morena, Valeria Iannone, Hani El-Nezami, Marjukka Kolehmainen, Oscar P. Kuipers
Zonulin is a protein that has been shown to be a key player regulating TJs and it is strongly associated with increased intestinal permeability.75 Zonulin is released mainly as a consequence of the intestinal lumen exposure to bacteria79 and to gliadin.80 Gliadin is a gluten component which has been suggested to bind the chemokine receptor CXCR3 receptor on IECs. This leads to the recruitment of the adapter protein MyD88 and, subsequently, the expression of zonulin.80 Zonulin is mostly present in the jejunum and distal ileum, but absent in the large intestine77 and it is able to disassemble the TJs via polymerization of actin in a protein kinase C (PKC) dependent way.78 Circulating levels of zonulin are considered an important intestinal permeability marker and has been linked to diseases, such as Type 1 Diabetes79 and celiac disease.80