Celiac Disease and microbiota - Is there a connection?

Disturbances in the gut microbiota, a community of microbes that live in us, are associated with diseases ranging from metabolic syndrome to autoimmune diseases to mental disorders. Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder in which consumption of gluten-containing foods results in inflammation and damage to the small intestine, leading to a range of gastrointestinal symptoms, and other complications such as anemia and reduced bone density. Research regarding the role of the gut microbiota in CD is still emerging. In his new study, Prof. Omry Koren's group from the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine at Bar-Ilan University, together with researchers from Poland, characterized the microbiota of children newly diagnosed with CD and followed them over the course of one year of gluten exclusion to understand whether the microbiota are associated with the disease. Surprisingly, no difference was found between the microbiota of the children with CD and the control group - their healthy family members. Furthermore, despite the known positive effect of a gluten-free diet on celiac patients, even in this case the researchers did not see a change in the microbiome composition, except for a short-term increase in the bacteria Akkermansia muciniphila, associated with healthy gut function. The results of this work provide evidence that CD is not consistently associated with microbiota. In addition, the microbial similarity between children with CD and their healthy family members could suggest that the latter may be living in a pre-CD state.

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