A new study on the antibodies produced by people with gluten sensitivity will help in detecting the condition and treating it.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease triggered by exposure to the dietary protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, but it was often dismissed by doctors as irrelevant complaints of people who claimed to be sensitive to gluten-containing foods but did not have celiac disease.
However, based on the biological basis for non-celiac gluten sensitivity studies by Armin Alaedini, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, this view has changed in the past few years.
But many parts of non-celiac gluten sensitivity—including what causes it and how to diagnose it—still remain poorly understood.
The new study by Alaedini shows that like those with celiac disease, people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity also produce a high level of anti-gluten antibodies. But the two conditions produced different types of antibodies, and the inflammatory responses these antibodies can instigate.
“We found that the B cells of celiac disease patients produced a subclass profile of IgG antibodies with a strong inflammatory potential that is linked to autoimmune activity and intestinal cell damage,” says Alaedini. “In contrast, the patients with non-celiac gluten sensitivity produced IgG antibodies that are associated with a more restrained inflammatory response.”
In the future, physicians will easily be able to detect people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity from these antibodies, which is currently not easier to diagnose. Currently, celiac disease is controlled by diet, but this could pave the way for new therapies.
“The data suggest that celiac patients generate a strong B-cell inflammatory response each time they consume gluten, whereas the immune system in people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity learns from its earlier encounters with gluten and generates less-inflammatory responses to the antigen in subsequent interactions.”
“If we can drive specific immune cells of celiac patients toward their less inflammatory states, we may be able to prevent or reduce the severity of the immunologic reaction to gluten”, says Alaedini.
