Video: Every Case Tells a Story| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

The Role of T Cells in Celiac Disease

  |  

The combination of autoantibodies and anti-gluten CD4 T cell immunity appears to not be enough to achieve the tissue destruction seen in patients with celiac disease. Rather, research suggests that these patients have an expansion of effector IE-CTLs with as yet undefined specificity. These IE-CTLs appear to recognize non-classical MHC Class I molecules and, when provided with help from anti-gluten CD4 T cells and upregulation of IL-15, may develop a fully activated killer phenotype. Thus, an inflammatory milieu appears to promote the development of effector IE-CTLs that seem to be required for tissue destruction in patients with celiac disease.

Lara C. Pullen, PhD, is a medical writer based in the Chicago area.

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Reference

  1. Jabri B, Sollid LM. T cells in celiac disease. J Immunol. 2017 Apr 15;198(8):3005–3014. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1601693.

Related Articles
    How HLA-B27 Research Landmarks, Advances Relate to Ankylosing Spondylitis Pathogenesis

    How HLA-B27 Research Landmarks, Advances Relate to Ankylosing Spondylitis Pathogenesis

    The mechanistic link between human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is one of the great enigmas in rheumatology. The introduction of biological therapies that target tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or the interleukin (IL) 23/IL-17A axis has had a major impact on the quality of life for many patients with AS, and one…

    Celiac Awareness Makes a Difference for Rheumatology Patients

    Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are difficult to diagnose, but they affect multiple systems and are associated with other autoimmune diseases. Lan Chen, MD, PhD, believes better testing and clearer education will be a gamechanger for celiac patients…

    Diagnostic Tests, Tips for Gluten-Induced Celiac Disease

    CHICAGO—Celiac disease—the gluten-induced illness that can be seen alongside rheumatic diseases—has been seen much more commonly over the past 20 years than it was previously, but the illness can come with questions that are not always straightforward, an expert said at the ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium. The disease, in which the small intestine becomes inflamed…