Prototypic disorders of gastrointestinal mucosal immune function: Celiac disease and Crohn's disease.
Celiac disease is a disorder of the small intestine characterized by chronic inflammation of the mucosa and protean clinical manifestations caused by loss of tolerance to dietary antigens. Two strongly associated cofactors have been identified: the presence of HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 in the host and specific antigenic peptides in the diet that are present in wheat, rye, and barley. Most patients have complete remission after dietary elimination of these foods. Crohn's disease is characterized by chronic, relapsing, recurrent, focal, transmural inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that can lead to multiple serious problems requiring chronic medical and surgical therapy. Crohn's disease is associated with multiple genetic mutations, at least one of which has been clearly implicated in innate immunity. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the disease involves abnormal immune responses to gut microbial flora.
James
Stephen P
SP
Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD 20892-5450, USA. Jamess@EXTRA.NIDDK.NIH.gov
D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D009154:Mutation
D000485:Allergens; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; C053186:HLA-DQ2 antigen; C109756:HLA-DQ8 antigen