If you have ANY of these symptoms, STOP eating gluten immediately (you may have celiac disease!)

A small percentage of people who are genetically predisposed to celiac disease actually develop the condition, although the exact reason remains unknown. According to a recent study, the reason could be the way how some gut bacteria respond to gluten.

Statistics shows that around 1 percent of Americans suffers from celiac disease, an autoimmune condition in which an individual is gluten intolerant.

Gluten is naturally found in grains, such as barley, wheat, and rye and when a person who is gluten intolerant consumes it, the immune system causes damage to the small intestine as a response. This may lead to various symptoms, such as bloating, diarrhea, fatigue, and abdominal pain.

Even though some gene mutations can trigger the development of celiac disease, only 2-3 percent of people who have such mutations develop the disease.

Wanting to find the root cause of this, Dr. Elena F. Verdu, of the Digestive Health Research Institute at McMaster University in Canada, and her colleagues examined the immune responses to gluten and how they varied with different populations of gut bacteria in mice with induced gluten intolerance. The findings were published in The American Journal of Pathology.

Germ-free mice showed signs of celiac disease is response to gluten

The team of researchers analyzed three groups of mice which expressed DQ8, a gene which is found in humans and makes them genetically predisposed to gluten intolerance.

Facts about celiac disease

• Around 5-22 percent of people with celiac disease have a first-degree relative with the condition
• Gluten-free diet is only existent treatment for celiac disease
• Around 83 percent of Americans with celiac disease are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions

More information about celiac disease

Each group of mice had different but bacteria, also known as microbiomes. The first one was germ-free and the other was clean specific-pathogen-free whose gut bacteria were free of Preteobacteria, which is group of gram-negative bacteria.

The other group comprised conventional SPF mice, possessing a wide plethora of gut microbiomes, such as Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Helicobacter.

Each group of mice was exposed to gluten. The results showed that the germ-free mice experienced increased levels of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) in the gut, whose activation is indicative of celiac disease. However, increased IEL levels were not noted in the clean SPF mice.

Moreover, the germ-free mice showed increased death of cells lining the gastrointestinal tract, which are known as vili.

The team of researchers also noted the development of antibodies in response to a gluten`s component called gliadin. These mice also showed T-cell responses which are specific to this particular component.

It has been also found that the development of gluten-induced pathology was stopped in the clean SPF mice when compared to germ-free mice. However, in this case the clean SPF mice didn’t receive enteroadherent Escherichia coli from a patient with celiac disease.

Increasing Proteobacteria worsened gluten-induced pathology

According to the researchers, the conventional SPF mice showed greater gluten-induced pathology when compared to clean SPF mice. Consequently, the team of researchers started a new analysis to see whether the presence of Escherichia and Helicobacter has any influence.

When conventional SPF mice were administered an antibiotic called vancomycin at the time of their birth in order to increase the presence of Proteobacteria, it has been found that gluten-induced pathology worsened. To be more precise, the team found an increase in the IELs levels.

“These studies demonstrate that perturbation of early microbial colonization in life and induction of dysbiosis (microbial imbalance inside the body), characterized by increased Proteobacteria, enhances the severity of gluten-induced responses in mice genetically predisposed to gluten sensitivity,” says Dr. Verdu.

“Importantly, our data argue that the recognized increase in celiac disease prevalence in the general population over the last 50 years could be driven, at least in part, by perturbations in intestinal microbial ecology. Specific microbiota-based therapies may aid in the prevention or treatment of celiac disease in subjects with moderate genetic risk,” he adds.

According to Robin G. Lorenz, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the presence of Proteobacteria has a huge impact on the celiac disease pathology, even though this doesn’t meant that it causes the condition on its own. Dr. Lorenz recommends boosting the immune response to gluten or gliadin is somehow caused by Proteobacteria.

Last but not least, it is worth mentioning that a study reported by Medical News Today suggests that people suffering from celiac disease are more likely to experience nerve damage.

 

Source :  webforyourhealthylife.com

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