NEW YORK – Researchers at the Medical University of Warsaw in Poland have developed a biomarker that they said could be the basis for a noninvasive test to assess intestinal function.

Intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are characterized by an impairment of the gut-blood barrier (GBB), colloquially known as "leaky gut." Leaky gut is an increased permeability of the intestinal walls that can allow bacteria and their products to pass from the gut into the bloodstream, sometimes triggering inflammation or an immune response.