10 February 2020
Cosmos
Curated content from the editorial staff at Cosmos Magazine.
This is a mini-gut organoid generated in a laboratory from human stem cells.
It has helped US researchers simulate leaky gut conditions (not everyone’s idea of fun, it must be said) and move closer to finding a treatment for an unpleasant condition that may be more common, and more harmful, than previously thought.
Microbes and molecules seeping out of intestines can trigger an immune response, contributing to a variety of diseases driven by chronic inflammation, such as inflammatory bowel disease, dementia, atherosclerosis, liver fibrosis, cancers, diabetes and arthritis.
It’s currently hard for doctors to tell who has it – and there is no real treatment.
However, after creating their 3D models of human intestines from patient cells, researchers from the University of California San Diego have revealed new biomarkers they say help define what a leaky gut looks like.
Writing in the journal Life Science Alliance, they also describe a potential pathway for tightening leaky guts with a common, available medication.