We’ve always been told you need three factors to get celiac disease, the gene, gluten and a trigger. But as more research comes out from some fabulous celiac centers in the US, we’re finding much more is going on behind the scenes that leads to celiac disease.
We have talked about the “leaky gut” issue with autoimmune diseases here before. But now there’s new insight which comes from the University of Chicago’s Celiac Disease Center. Researchers there now believe that there may be a way to keep the body from having an immune response that leads to celiac disease.
Stopping Celiac Disease Development — Maybe?
New research revealed in the Journal Nature, but best understood in Wednesday’s news release says researchers found “two chemical signals — Interleukin 15 [IL-15] and retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A– as triggers for the inflammatory response to gluten….”
Researchers say they previously knew celiac patients had a high level of IL-15 so they increased the levels in mice, which, researchers say then developed “all the early symptoms of celiac disease. Adding retinoic acid…only made the symptoms worse….”
“But when researchers blocked IL-15, however the diseased mice reverted to normal and were once again able to tolerate gluten,”
Clinical trials for medications that block IL-15 are already going on for people with rheumatoid arthritis– another inflammatory disorder and autoimmune condition.
Scientists hope this research can lead to a vaccine that will someday prevent celiac disease.
Tags: celiac, disease symptoms, gluten, research
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