Macrophages: Checking Toxicity of Fungal Metabolites in the Colon

Abstract

It is well known that the intestine absorbs nutrients, electrolytes, and water. Chikina et al. recently demonstrated that it is also able to sense, recognize, and block the absorption of toxins through a very sophisticated interactive cellular cooperation between novel subpopulations of macrophages and epithelial cells.

Keywords: fungal toxins; homeostasis; intestine; macrophages; microbiota.