2017-05-21 06:14:57
A serious problem of food intolerance occurs against gluten, a set of proteins typical of wheat and other cereals. One of the gluten proteins, gliadin, is partially resistant to digestion and, instead of being fully digested, generates various protein fragments, called peptides.
These undigested peptides induce an immune response against them in some people with a genetic predisposition, due to the fact that they possess certain variants of the major histocompatibility complex genes, the same genes responsible for transplant rejection. In these people, gluten peptides trigger a rejection response to intestinal cells that have taken them up from the intestine and are, for this reason, now identified as foreign cells by the immune system. This is the cause of celiac disease. At the moment, strictly avoiding gluten is the only way to prevent its dangerous effects.
A group of 34 researchers from various American universities is now tackling these problems. The researchers make use of genetic engineering and generate two different types of a class of viruses called reoviruses. Reoviruses infect the intestine of mice and humans, generally asymptomatically, although some viruses of this class are unable to infect the intestine and infect other cells. The researchers use two types of reovirus for their experiments. One, called T1L, infects the intestine of mice and generates an immune response against it that affects the physiology of this organ. Another, called T3D, is not capable of infecting the intestine and, furthermore, it is an asymptomatic virus that does not generate a strong immune response.
The different responses of the immune system of the mice, together with the fact that celiac patients usually have high levels of antibodies against reoviruses in their blood, suggests the possibility that celiac disease can be triggered, in susceptible people, by a intestinal viral infection while eating gluten.
This is good news, because this will perhaps allow the development of antiviral vaccines to prevent genetically susceptible people from developing this disease.
More information on Jorge Laborda’s blog: intolerance virus
Reference:
Bouziat et al., Reovirus infection triggers inflammatory responses to dietary antigens and development of celiac disease. Science 356, 44–50 (2017).
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