New Study Links Coeliac Disease Risk to Immune System Behaviour
A brand new Australian study could change the landscape on autoimmune testing. Image Credit: WEHI & Snow Centre for Immune Control
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Hey Gluten Free Fam,
Friend of A Gluten Free Podcast Professor Jason Tye-Din and his colleagues have released findings of a new study which may alter how coeliac disease is examined and tested. As reported by WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research), the study from Snow Centre for Immune Health sheds new light as to how autoimmune diseases behave within the immune system.
Medical Research Helping Uncover Underlying Autoimmune Risk
Before the study, common consensus believed that the immune system became overactive and attacked the body’s own tissue, yet a consistent shift in immune cell behaviour for participants from this study has blown the old theory wide open. Researchers, including Professor Tye-Din alongside Dr. Vanessa Bryant, Professor Phil Hodgkin and Professor Susanne Heinzel, identified distinct patterns in early immune responses.
This type of breakthrough could lead to easier and more effective ways of predicting autoimmune risk, venturing beyond even coeliac disease itself. In practical terms, someone could achieve a diagnosis for coeliac disease or another autoimmune condition before any symptoms even emerge.
That level of clarity would save individuals, families and communities extraordinary amounts of time, money and anguish as they live in the knowledge of what condition they have and what treatments, diets and options they have at their disposal.
A Change in Research Testing Leads to Exciting Discovery
One of the most important factors in the findings was a focus on the CD4 helper T cells, an immune cell known for coordinating immune responses, fighting infection and supporting antibody production. Once the original stimulus was removed, the research group could gauge how well the T cells read and store their activation signals to maintain their ‘momentum.’
““This tells us the effect isn’t simply driven by inflammation or diet... It suggests an underlying inference that may be linked to genetic risk.” ”
The team of expert medical scientists were able to utilise the centre’s pioneering Cyton 2 Cell Timer model, something that is able to track immune cell activity over time. While most laboratories worked to stimulate the cells, these specialists activated them before removing all signals. They saw how the cells produced, survived and divided key signalling molecules during the process. What it left was a detailed picture of early immune behaviour.
How the New Study Applies to Coeliac Disease
As extensive and detailed as this may seem, most of our audience is interested in one thing: how does this apply to coeliac disease, specifically? Prior to this study, the belief was that immune cells from coeliacs were just overactive. These results tell a different story. What they showed were weaker responses.
As per the study, the CD4 helper T cells from those with coeliac disease were less likely to survive, entered cell division more slowly and produced less interleukin-2 (a key immune signalling molecule). Dr. Bryant explained that “these differences are subtle but remarkably consistent.”
The outcomes across the board were staggering, showcasing the same patterns for individuals of all ages and sex, irrespective if they were newly diagnosed or have been living with coeliac disease for years. “This tells us the effect isn’t simply driven by inflammation or diet,” Dr. Bryant outlined. “It suggests an underlying inference that may be linked to genetic risk.”
We will keep a close eye on this research at A Gluten Free Family to see what this study may lead to in future.
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