Association between Celiac Disease and Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Mechanisms by which gut microorganisms influence food sensitivities

Finely tuned mechanisms enable the gastrointestinal tract to break down dietary components into nutrients without mounting, in the majority of cases, a dysregulated immune or functional host response. However, adverse reactions to food have been steadily increasing, and evidence suggests that this process is environmental. Adverse food reactions can be divided according to their underlying pathophysiology into food intolerances, when, for instance, there is deficiency of a host enzyme required to digest the food component, and food sensitivities, when immune mechanisms are involved. In this Review, we discuss the clinical and experimental evidence for enteric infections and/or alterations in the gut microbiota in inciting food sensitivity. We focus on mechanisms by which microorganisms might provide direct pro-inflammatory signals to the host promoting breakdown of oral tolerance to food antigens or indirect pathways that involve the metabolism of protein antigens and other dietary components by gut microorganisms. Better understanding of these mechanisms will help in the development of preventive and therapeutic strategies for food sensitivities.

Autoantibodies in the Extraintestinal Manifestations of Celiac Disease

Increased antibody reactivity towards self-antigens is often indicative of a disruption of homeostatic immune pathways in the body. In celiac disease, an autoimmune enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of gluten from wheat and related cereals in genetically predisposed individuals, autoantibody reactivity to transglutaminase 2 is reflective of the pathogenic role of the enzyme in driving the associated inflammatory immune response. Autoantibody reactivity to transglutaminase 2 closely corresponds with the gluten intake and clinical presentation in affected patients, serving as a highly useful biomarker in the diagnosis of celiac disease. In addition to gastrointestinal symptoms, celiac disease is associated with a number of extraintestinal manifestations, including those affecting skin, bones, and the nervous system. Investigations of these manifestations in celiac disease have identified a number of associated immune abnormalities, including B cell reactivity towards various autoantigens, such as transglutaminase 3, transglutaminase 6, synapsin I, gangliosides, and collagen. Clinical relevance, pathogenic potential, mechanism of development, and diagnostic and prognostic value of the various identified autoantibody reactivities continue to be subjects of investigation and will be reviewed here.

Celiac disease and hepatitis C relationships in transcriptional regulatory networks

AIM

we mainly aimed to elucidate potential comorbidities between celiac disease and hepatitis c by means of data and network analysis approaches.

BACKGROUND

understanding the association among the disorders evidently has important impact on the diagnosis and therapeutic approaches. Celiac disease is the most challenging, common types of autoimmune disorders. On the other hand, hepatitis c virus genome products like some proteins are supposed to be resemble to gliadin types that in turn activates gluten intolerance in people with inclined to gluten susceptibilities. Moreover, a firm support of association between chronic hepatitis and celiac disease remains largely unclear. Henceforth exploring cross-talk among these diseases will apparently lead to the promising discoveries concerning important genes and regulators.

METHODS

321 and 1032 genes associated with celiac disease and hepatitis c retrieved from DisGeNET were subjected to build a gene regulatory network. Afterward a network-driven integrative analysis was performed to exploring prognosticates genes and related pathways.

RESULTS

105 common genes between these diseases included 11 transcription factors were identified as hallmark molecules where by further screening enriched in biological GO terms and pathways chiefly in immune systems and signaling pathways such as chemokines, cytokines and interleukins.

CONCLUSION

in silico data analysis approaches indicated that the identified selected combinations of genes covered a wide range of known functions triggering the inflammation implicated in these diseases.

Immune development and intestinal microbiota in celiac disease

Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy, triggered by dietary wheat gluten and similar proteins of barley and rye in genetically susceptible individuals. The etiology of this disorder is complex, involving both environmental and genetic factors. The major genetic risk factor for CD is represented by HLA-DQ genes, which account for approximately 40% of the genetic risk; however, only a small percentage of carriers develop the disease. Gluten is the main environmental factor responsible for the signs and symptoms of the disease, but exposure to gluten does not fully explain the manifestation of CD. Epidemiological and clinical data suggest that environmental factors other than gluten might play a role in disease development, including early feeding practices (e.g., breast milk versus formula and duration of breastfeeding), infections, and alterations in the intestinal microbiota composition. Herein, we review what is known about the influence of dietary factors, exposure to infectious agents, and intestinal microbiota composition, particularly in early life, on the risk of developing CD, as well as the possible dietary strategies to induce or increase gluten tolerance.