Science Spotlight: How a leaky gut drives alcohol-associated liver disease

A team from University of California San Diego, led by  Nterica Bio Inc. founder Bernd Schnabl, found that chronic alcohol use disrupts key components of the gut-liver axis, contributing to the “leaky gut” that accompanies alcohol-associated liver disease.

In healthy people, goblet cells in the gut form channels called goblet cell-associated antigen passages (GAPs), which let tiny bits of material from the inside of the gut pass through to specialized immune cells beneath the surface, training them to induce protective immunity, tolerate benign antigens, and maintain intestinal barrier integrity. Delivery of these antigens is dependent on the small intestinal muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M4...