title: Short wheat challenge is a reproducible in-vivo assay to detect immune response to gluten.
abstract: It has been reported that interferon (IFN)-γ-secreting T cells reactive to gluten can be detected in the peripheral blood of individuals with treated coeliac disease (CD) after a short consumption of wheat-containing food. By contrast, very little is known about the reproducibility of this in-vivo procedure in the same patient cohort which underwent two, or more, gluten consumptions. Fourteen coeliac patients in remission consumed wheat bread for 3 days; 13 underwent a second gluten challenge after a wash-out of 3-10 months on a strict gluten-free diet. Immune reactivity to gluten was analysed in peripheral blood by detecting IFN-γ before and 6 days after commencing a gluten diet. Gliadin-specific IFN-γ-secreting CD4(+)  T cells increased significantly on day 6 of the first challenge. These cells resulted as prevalently human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ restricted and with a phenotype of gut homing, as suggested by the expression of β7-integrin. Similarly, reactiveness to gliadin was observed after the second wheat consumption, although with an individual variability of responses at each challenge. Our findings confirmed that the short wheat challenge is a non-invasive approach to investigate the gluten-related immune response in peripheral blood of subjects intolerant to gluten. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the in-vivo procedure can be reproduced in the same subject cohort after a gluten wash-out of at least 3 months. Our study has important implications for the application of this procedure to clinical practice.
authors: Institute of Food Sciences-CNR, Avellino, Italy.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Camarca
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Radano
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Di Mase
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Terrone
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Maurano
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Auricchio
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Troncone
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Greco
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Gianfrani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005903:Gliadin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D005983:Glutens / Q000276:immunology*; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors; D014908:Triticum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D052179:Antigens, Plant; D000939:Epitopes; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; C053186:HLA-DQ2 antigen; D010455:Peptides; D005983:Glutens; D005903:Gliadin