The key genes involved in solute transport across the epithelial barrier such as clcn1, clcn2, slc26a6, slc6a19 and immune genes such as cath1, cath2, gal3, rbp2, mta could serve as possible biomarkers of diet-associated intestinal inflammation and be used in further comparative studies on inflammation in mammalian models. Here, RBP2 is linked to inflammatory response.