Structural weakening of the colonic mucus barrier is an early event in ulcerative colitis pathogenesis.
Sjoerd van der PostKarolina S JabbarGeorge BirchenoughLiisa ArikeNoreen AkhtarHenrik SjovallMalin E V JohanssonGunnar C HanssonPublished in: Gut (2019)
Core mucus structural components were reduced in active UC. These alterations were associated with attenuation of the goblet cell secretory response to microbial challenge, but occurred independent of local inflammation. Thus, mucus abnormalities are likely to contribute to UC pathogenesis.