Rob Lustig explains how tight junctions in the gut hold cells together. When they fail, bacteria and toxins leak into the bloodstream and trigger liver inflammation. Zonulin dysfunction in celiac disease is one example of this breakdown.
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So our gut has two barriers that prevent all the junk in our intestine from basically taking us over. One is the mucin layer that sits on top of the epithelial cells to act as a mechanical barrier. And the other are these proteins that join the intestinal enterocytes together, known as tight junctions. So those of you familiar with the idea of celiac disease, okay, that's a defect in the zonulin, which is a tight junction protein. So when those tight junctions fail, then stuff can enter into the portal system, go to the liver, and cause liver inflammation. So this is a primary entry point for inflammatory lipopolysaccharides, cytokines, whole bacteria that will end up having to be cleared by the liver and cause liver inflammation.