Gut Flora and Celiac Disease

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mle_ii
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Gut Flora and Celiac Disease

Post by mle_ii »

Finally someone's thinking about similar things and are studying it. This makes me wonder how many diseases we think that are genetic are possibly environmental, meaning the environment of the mothers body and the bacteria contained in her body. Though it's still a chicken or egg type of thing, but it sure does make me wonder even more.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1785 ... stractPlus
Gut microflora associated characteristics in first-degree relatives of children with celiac disease.
OBJECTIVE: In celiac disease (CD), enteropathy of the small bowel results from a T-cell-mediated reaction to gluten in the diet. In addition to gluten, other environmental and genetic factors participate in the disease pathogenesis. We have recently reported the finding of a significantly different short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) profile in fecal samples from children with CD compared to healthy controls reflecting an aberrant gut microflora. The aim of the present study was to make a functional evaluation of the gut microflora status in non-celiac 1st degree relatives of children with CD. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fecal samples from 76 symptom-free, non-celiac, 1st degree CD relatives and from 91 aged-matched healthy controls were analyzed for fecal tryptic activity (FTA) and a number of SCFAs. RESULTS: There was a significantly lower level of acetic acid and total SCFAs as well as a significantly increased level of i-butyric acid and FTA in relatives compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: The FTA and the SCFA profiles in fecal samples from 1st degree relatives of children with CD are different from those of healthy individuals. The implication of this observation provides insight into the pathogenesis of CD and opens up the possibility of future new diagnostic, therapeutic and prophylactic strategies.
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tex
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Post by tex »

Mike,

I've seen that before - did you post that info in another topic, or did I come across it somewhere else?

Anyway, thinking about that observation, (as stated in the article), such a condition shouldn't be surprising - after all, 1st degree relatives probably have similar genes. Right? And, those genes presumably predispose them to CD. Therefore, it is logical to suspect that their digestive systems should be affected by those genes. (How else could the genes ever trigger CD, if they didn't alter at least certain aspects of the GI system).

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
mle_ii
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Post by mle_ii »

Maybe, it's an older study that made it's way to my email yesterday.

Right, I'm not saying that genes don't influence. I'm saying that there are other factors that can look like genes are the influence where in the end it may be bacteria instead. Though again bacteria would influence genes as well.
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