Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 28, 2022; 28(32): 4475-4492
Published online Aug 28, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i32.4475
Colon mucus in colorectal neoplasia and beyond
Alexandre Loktionov
Alexandre Loktionov, DiagNodus Ltd, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Loktionov A is responsible for all work related to the preparation of this review paper; Loktionov A has designed paper structure, performed literature search, contributed figures, analysed literature data and wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author reports no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Alexandre Loktionov, MD, PhD, Director, DiagNodus Ltd, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom. alex.loktionov@diagnodus.com
Received: January 27, 2022
Peer-review started: January 27, 2022
First decision: April 10, 2022
Revised: April 23, 2022
Accepted: August 6, 2022
Article in press: August 6, 2022
Published online: August 28, 2022
Processing time: 210 Days and 15.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Until recently colon mucus (CM) importance was largely ignored because its structure and functions were obscure. It is now known that human CM comprises a dense inner layer impenetrable for bacteria and a loose outer layer providing a habitat for abundant commensal microbiota. Mucus barrier integrity is essential for maintaining homeostatic balance between colonic mucosa and gut microbiota, and its impairment opens direct bacterial access to the epithelium, which induces inflammation and can cause severe disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Recent advances in colorectal mucus exploration and emerging new clinical applications based on this knowledge are discussed.