Multi-tasking intestinal mucosa – The Guardian cum Warrior inside!

I read this article about intestines and the microbes within them. It talked about the good ones and the bad ones, the ones that can live in a friendly arrangement and the ones that are harmful and deadly enough to conclude human life. But all in all, it talked about some really interesting fact about intestines that I felt like sharing here.

Did you know that an intestinal mucosa forms the largest surface area of the human body? Not just that, according to a well reputed article, if unfolded, the same intestinal mucosa would occupy approximately the area of a tennis court. Amazing isn’t it, that we have so much of lining wrapped inside our bodies.

A specialist in the field of intestinal diseases caused by microbes and Professor at the Institute of Integrative Biology of ETH Zurich, Nicola Harris explained the significance of this intestinal mucosa and its extreme vulnerability to various infectious worms causing various diseases. She said that as there is a flimsy barrier between the intestine and the environment, the intestinal mucosa is constantly exposed to foreign substance and thus it must be able to trigger robust immune response against them.

That is not all as far as the responsibility of the intestinal mucosa is concerned. The intestinal mucosa also has to recognize the harmless friendly bacteria from the dangerous and lethal ones. The harmless ones are called commensal germs which usually live in symbiosis with humans while the harmful ones are nothing but pathogens.

Discussing about this huge responsibility of intestinal mucosa, Harris said that, “The intestinal mucosa’s immune system is therefore faced with an enormous challenge. It must constantly decide when it must mount a counterattack against an inflammation that keeps the pathogenic germs in check by means of an activated defense response or when it needs to maintain the status quo in which humans and “useful” bacteria live in symbiosis.”

According to her, the most common intestinal microbes in mammalian evolution are ‘symbiotic bacteria’ and ‘worm infections.’ Another finding that surfaced after a study on mice, tracked how immune response arises in the body as a result of infection. Two types of antibodies are formed after infections from parasites. One type is called ‘polyclonal antibodies’ that are non-specific antibodies and are formed after infection with parasites.

The other type is called ‘specific antibodies’ that are only formed after multiple infections in the body. It is found that non-specific antibodies limit the worm’s fertility in the body while the specific ones yield immune protection against new infections. Polyclonal antibodies also allow certain bacteria to become chronic and practically live in symbiosis with humans.

Now just imagine our intestines are practically having a mind of their own to detect intruders, manage relationships with foreign substances, inhibit the fertility of the harmful worms and most of all provide immunity against further infection. This is but a classic example of what I would like to call a ‘properly designed and well-maintained intestinal management system.’

A round of applause for the guardian cum warrior intestinal mucosa!