Pediatric research
October 5, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Claudin-3 as a marker of intestinal permeability and its relation to inflammatory status in adolescents with functional gastrointestinal disorders.
Abd El-Shaheed A, Mahfouz NN, Metwaly HH, Sibaii H, Abd El-Fattah SN.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Serum claudin-3 and inflammatory markers were higher in adolescents with functional GI disorders than in healthy controls, suggesting claudin-3 as a possible noninvasive marker of gut barrier dysfunction.
What was studied
A case-control study of 70 adolescents with functional gastrointestinal disorders and 65 healthy controls, measuring serum claudin-3, CRP, IL-6, TNF-alpha and haptoglobin by ELISA.
Key findings
- Serum claudin-3, CRP, IL-6, TNF-alpha and haptoglobin were all significantly higher in cases (p = 0.02, 0.039, 0.04, 0.021 and 0.001 respectively)
- Claudin-3 correlated positively with CRP, IL-6 and haptoglobin in cases
Clinical relevance
A blood test for intestinal permeability could someday avoid invasive biopsies, and the data hint that barrier repair might be a treatment target. This remains research-stage.
Who should care
Limitations
The abstract reports only p values with no effect sizes or diagnostic accuracy, the design is cross-sectional so causation cannot be inferred, and the claim that barrier impairment promotes FGIDs goes beyond the associations shown.
Claudin-3 is elevated and tracks with inflammation in adolescents with FGIDs, but its value as a biomarker is unproven.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Background
Functional Gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are highly prevalent among adolescents. Increased intestinal permeability plays a potential role in the pathogenesis of FGIDs. Claudin-3 (CLDN3) may serve as an indicator of gut barrier integrity. We aimed to assess serum level of CLDN3 as a noninvasive biomarker of intestinal permeability in adolescents with FGIDs, and its relation with inflammatory markers.
Methods
This study included 70 adolescents with FGIDs and 65 healthy controls. Serum levels of CLDN3 and inflammatory markers; C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), and haptoglobin, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results
Serum levels of CLDN3 and inflammatory markers; CRP, Il-6, TNFα and haptoglobin, were significantly higher in cases compared to controls (p = 0.02, 0.039, 0.04, 0.021 and 0.001, respectively). We detected significant positive correlations between serum level of CLDN3 and that of CRP, IL-6 and haptoglobin in cases.
Conclusion
Our results revealed significant elevations in serum levels of CLDN3 and inflammatory markers in adolescents with FGIDs. Significant positive correlations were detected between levels of CLDN3 and that of CRP, IL-6 and haptoglobin, suggesting an association between intestinal barrier dysfunction and low-grade systemic inflammation. Thus, CLDN3 represents a potential noninvasive biomarker of intestinal permeability in FGIDs.
Impact
This research investigated the potential role of Claudin-3 (CLDN3) as a noninvasive biomarker of intestinal permeability in adolescents with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs), and its relation to the inflammatory status of these patients. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess serum CLDN3 as a noninvasive biomarker of intestinal permeability in FGIDs; previous researches have assessed intestinal barrier disruption in FGIDs based on intestinal biopsies. Our findings suggest that impaired intestinal barrier function may promote development of FGIDs by inducing inflammation. Thus, restoration of intestinal barrier integrity may represent a potential therapeutic target for FGIDs.
DOI
10.1038/s41390-026-05497-0
PMID
42834155
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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