The Interrelationships between Intestinal Permeability and Phlegm Syndrome and Therapeutic Potential of Some Medicinal Herbs

• Published in: Biomolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 2; p. 284
• Main Authors: Park, Junghyun, Choi, Tae Joon, Kang, Ki Sung, Choi, Seo-Hyung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15-02-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Antigens; Bacteria; Cytokines; Dendritic cells; Diet; Digestive system; Gastrointestinal tract; gut microbiome; Herbal medicine; Homeostasis; Immune system; increased GI barrier permeability; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Intestinal microflora; Intestine; Medicinal plants; Microbiota; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Pathogens; Permeability; phlegm syndrome; phytochemicals; Proteins; Public health; Review; Spleen; phytochemicals; gut microbiome; phlegm syndrome; medicinal plants; inflammation; increased GI barrier permeability
• ISSN: 2218-273X; 2218-273X
• DOI: 10.3390/biom11020284

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract has an intriguing and critical role beyond digestion in both modern and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), as demonstrated by its link with the immune system. In this review, we attempted to explore the interrelationships between increased GI permeability and phlegm, an important pathological factor in CAM, syndrome, and therapeutic herbs for two disorders. The leaky gut and phlegm syndromes look considerably similar with respect to related symptoms, diseases, and suitable herbal treatment agents, including phytochemicals even though limitations to compare exist. Phlegm may be spread throughout the body along with other pathogens via the disruption of the GI barrier to cause several diseases sharing some parts of symptoms, diseases, and mechanisms with leaky gut syndrome. Both syndromes are related to inflammation and gut microbiota compositions. Well-designed future research should be conducted to verify the interrelationships for evidence based integrative medicine to contribute to the promotion of public health. In addition, systems biology approaches should be adopted to explore the complex synergistic effects of herbal medicine and phytochemicals on conditions associated with phlegm and leaky gut syndromes.