Open AccessThe Gut–Lung Axis in Systemic Inflammation. Role of Mesenteric Lymph as a Conduit
Author(s) -
Yonggang Ma,
Xiaoyuan Yang,
Victor Chatterjee,
Mack H. Wu,
Sarah Y. Yuan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
american journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.469
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1535-4989
pISSN - 1044-1549
DOI - 10.1165/rcmb.2020-0196tr
Subject(s) - lymph , lung , lymphatic system , inflammation , medicine , mesenteric lymph nodes , systemic inflammation , pathology , mesentery , immunology , spleen
Emerging evidence shows that after injury or infection, the mesenteric lymph acts as a conduit for gut-derived toxic factors to enter the blood circulation, causing systemic inflammation and acute lung injury. Neither the cellular and molecular identity of lymph factors nor their mechanisms of action have been well understood and thus have become a timely topic of investigation. This review will first provide a summary of background knowledge on gut barrier and mesenteric lymphatics, followed by a discussion focusing on the current understanding of potential injurious factors in the lymph and their mechanistic contributions to lung injury. We also examine lymph factors with antiinflammatory properties as well as the bidirectional nature of the gut-lung axis in inflammation.