Scientists make progress with a “key” piece in the celiac disease puzzle

The disease Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that damages the lining of the small intestine. A scientific team has now taken a new step in unraveling “an important piece of the puzzle” Celiac disease: how and where the body’s response to celiac disease begins gluten.

The results appear in an article in the journal Gastroenterology by researchers in medicine and engineering from McMaster University in Canada, as well as scientists from the United States, Australia and Argentina, who have devoted the last six years to this goal.

Celiac sufferers must cope with everyday life by avoiding gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley that can trigger painful symptoms in the intestine, prevent nutrient absorption and increase the risk of other serious long-term problems.

This autoimmune disorder affects approximately 1% of the population. Its incidence has doubled in the last 25 years, but there is no treatment, explains a statement from McMaster University.

Until now, it was thought that the inflammatory response to gluten occurred inside the intestinal wall and that it was exclusively involved in immune cells, but this study confirms that there is something else.

The team observed that the inner lining of the upper part of the intestine, called “epithelium” -composed of a variety of cells that are not classically part of the immune system- also plays an active role in directing the inflammatory response to gluten.

Using microscopic biomaterials in the lab, the team created a biologically functional model of the intestinal epithelium that allowed researchers to isolate the effects of specific molecules on the epithelial cells of people with celiac disease.

The model enabled scientists to generate and observe reactions under controlled conditions.

The researchers were able to observe how molecules alert immune cells to the presence of gluten and “definitively conclude that the epithelium plays a crucial role in the activation of the immune system in celiac disease,” the statement said.

This mechanism has been postulated before but never proven, the source said, and the answer to this question is expected to advance the development of new drugs.

“Today, the only way to treat celiac disease is to completely eliminate gluten from the diet. This is difficult and experts agree that a gluten-free diet is insufficient.”says Elena Verdu of McMaster University.

Locate with precision ‘the spark’ The increased immune response could spur research into drug delivery to inhibit this newly discovered function of the epithelium, using drugs already in clinical trials, Verdu adds.

“This has allowed us to pinpoint the specific cause and effect and to demonstrate exactly whether and how the reaction occurs,” said Tohid Didar of the same institution.