The gut barrier has been recognized as being of relevance in the pathogenesis of multiple different diseases ranging from inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory joint disease, fatty liver disease, and cardiometabolic disorders. The regulation of the gut barrier is, however, poorly understood. Especially, the role of food components such as sugars and complex carbohydrates has been discussed controversially in this respect. More recently, the intestinal microbiota has been proposed as an important regulator of the gut barrier. Whether the microbiota affects the barrier by its own, or whether food components such as carbohydrates mediate their effects through alterations of the microbiota composition or its metabolites, is still not clear. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge on this topic derived from both animal and human studies and discuss data for possible clinical impact.

肠道屏障已被认为与多种不同疾病的发病机制有关，这些疾病包括炎性肠病，肠易激综合症，炎性关节病，脂肪肝病和心脏代谢紊乱。然而，对肠屏障的调控了解甚少。特别是，在这方面，关于糖和复合碳水化合物等食品成分的作用已引起争议。最近，已经提出肠道微生物群是肠屏障的重要调节剂。目前尚不清楚微生物群是否通过其自身影响屏障，还是食物成分（例如碳水化合物）是否通过改变微生物群组成或其代谢产物来介导其作用。在这篇评论中，