WP 3 Intestinal Barrier Function

This WP, led by Dr. Carmen Alonso-Cotoner (VHIR) and Dr. Giovanni Barbara, (UNIBO) will functionally and structurally evaluate how mental and non-mental disorders affect the intestinal barrier function in IBS. Intestinal permeability will be determined in vivo in both cross-sectional and longitudinal cohorts (patients and controls). Molecular, cellular, structural and functional analysis will identify distinctive biological profiles in each clinical group using colonic mucosal biopsies and in vitro assays of the cross-sectional study. Moreover, preclinical models of barrier dysfunction, induced by stress or associated with mucosal inflammation, will be used to unveil brain-to-gut and gut-to-brain mechanisms of intestinal barrier dysfunction. The main output of this WP will be the identification of molecular mechanisms underlying intestinal barrier dysfunction that differentiate IBS, comorbid IBS and health.