Celiac Disease: Background and Historical Context.
Medical descriptions of celiac disease date to the first century BC, and the first modern description was published in 1888. Further insights were gained throughout the 1900s, culminating in the identification of the dietary component, the major genetic determinant, and the autoantigen by the turn of the century. Understanding of the age of onset, population prevalence, and the extent of subclinical celiac disease developed in tandem. Thanks to advances in genomics, currently established loci account for over 50 % of the genetic risk. Nonetheless, much remains to be discovered. Advances in high-throughput genomic, biochemical, and cell analyses, as well as the bioinformatics needed to process the data, promise to deepen our understanding further. Here we present a primer of celiac disease, viewing the condition in turn from the historical, epidemiological, immunological, molecular, and genetic points of view. Research into any ailment has specific requirements: study subjects must be identified and relevant tissue samples collected and stored with the appropriate timing and conditions. These requirements are summarized. To conclude, a short discussion of future prospects is presented.
Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.|Institute of Molecular Medicine, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Graham D
GD
Turner
National Children's Research Centre, Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin, 12, Ireland.|Department of Immunology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, St James's Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, 8, Ireland.|Department of Surgery, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Hospital, Dublin, 8, Ireland.
Margaret R
MR
Dunne
Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. aryan12@tcd.ie.|Institute of Molecular Medicine, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. aryan12@tcd.ie.
Anthony W
AW
Ryan
D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history* / Q000473:pathology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans
Celiac disease; Genetic risk; Gluten; HLA; T cell; Transglutaminase