Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Jun 15, 2017; 8(6): 249-269
Published online Jun 15, 2017. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v8.i6.249
Diabetes-induced mechanophysiological changes in the small intestine and colon
Mirabella Zhao, Donghua Liao, Jingbo Zhao
Mirabella Zhao, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
Donghua Liao, Jingbo Zhao, Giome Academia, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Author contributions: Zhao M looked for literatures, collected data, wrote manuscript and improved English writing; Liao D looked for literatures and wrote manuscript; Zhao J wrote and revised manuscript.
Supported by Karen Elise Jensens Foundation.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Jingbo Zhao, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 82, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. jingbo.zhao@clin.au.dk
Telephone: +45-78-459012
Received: March 6, 2017
Peer-review started: March 10, 2017
First decision: March 29, 2017
Revised: April 24, 2017
Accepted: May 3, 2017
Article in press: May 5, 2017
Published online: June 15, 2017
Abstract

The disorders of gastrointestinal (GI) tract including intestine and colon are common in the patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). DM induced intestinal and colonic structural and biomechanical remodeling in animals and humans. The remodeling is closely related to motor-sensory abnormalities of the intestine and colon which are associated with the symptoms frequently encountered in patients with DM such as diarrhea and constipation. In this review, firstly we review DM-induced histomorphological and biomechanical remodeling of intestine and colon. Secondly we review motor-sensory dysfunction and how they relate to intestinal and colonic abnormalities. Finally the clinical consequences of DM-induced changes in the intestine and colon including diarrhea, constipation, gut microbiota change and colon cancer are discussed. The final goal is to increase the understanding of DM-induced changes in the gut and the subsequent clinical consequences in order to provide the clinicians with a better understanding of the GI disorders in diabetic patients and facilitates treatments tailored to these patients.

Keywords: Diabetes, Intestine, Colon, Biomechanics, Motor-sensory, Gut microbiota, Symptoms

Core tip: The disorders of intestine and colon are common in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). DM induced intestinal and colonic structural and biomechanical remodeling are closely related to motor-sensory abnormalities of gut in DM. These changes due to DM are associated with diarrhea, constipation, gut microbiota modification and colon cancer. Understanding the DM-induced changes in the gut and the clinical consequences provides clinicians with a better understanding of the gastrointestinal disorders in diabetic patients and facilitates the improvement of treatments for these patients.