Celiac Attack

The only current treatment for celiac disease, a disorder of the small intestine that results from a hypersensitivity to ingested gluten, is lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet. However, it is difficult to follow such a diet, and any slipups can result in damage to the small intestine. A paper published in Nature Genetics identifies genetic variation in eight different regions of the genome that could contribute to celiac disease pathophysiology.¹ The finding potentially opens up multiple avenues for developing compounds that target the genetic or biochemical events underlying the disease.

The majority of celiac patients have variations in the HLA-DQ gene, which codes for major histocompatibility complex class II DQ,...