title: Intestinal failure: pathophysiological elements and clinical diseases.
abstract: There are two main functions of gastrointestinal tract, digestion and absorption, and barrier function. The latter has an important defensive effect, which keeps the body away from the invading and damaging of bacteria and endotoxin. It maintains the systemic homeostasis. Intestinal dysfunction would happen when body suffers from diseases or harmful stimulations. The lesser dysfunction of GI tract manifests only disorder of digestion and absorption, whereas the more serious intestinal disorders would harm the intestinal protective mechanism, or intestinal barrier function, and bacterial/endotoxin translocation, of intestinal failure (IF) would ensue. This review discussed the theory of the intestinal failure, aiming at attracting recognition and valuable comments by clinicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University Medical School, 16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao 266003, Shandong Province, China. dlahaolq@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Lian-An
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Jie-Shou
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018988:Bacterial Translocation; D004063:Digestion; D006801:Humans; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology