Celiac.com 07/18/2016 - Researchers still don't have a very good understanding about what triggers non-celiac wheat sensitivity. To get a better idea, a team of researchers recently set out to examine the inflammatory response in the rectal mucosa of patients with well-defined non-celiac wheat sensitivity. Specifically, they wanted to look at type 1 innate lymphoid cells in the rectal mucosa of those patients.

The research team included Diana Di Liberto, Pasquale Mansueto, Alberto D'Alcamo, Marianna Lo Pizzo, Elena Lo Presti1, Girolamo Geraci, Francesca Fayer, Giuliana Guggino, Giuseppe Iacono, Francesco Dieli, and Antonio Carroccio. They are variously affiliated with the Central Laboratory of Advanced Diagnosis and Biomedical Research (CLADIBIOR), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy, the Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Biotecnologie Mediche (DIBIMED), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy, the Dipartimento Biomedico di Medicina Interna e Specialistica (DIBIMIS), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy, the Surgery Department at the University of Palermo in Palermo, Italy, and with the Pediatric Gastroenterology, ARNAS Di Cristina Hospital, Palermo, Italy 6Internal Medicine, Giovanni Paolo II Hospital, Sciacca (ASP Agrigento), Palermo, Italy.



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Two weeks after each of the subjects consumed 80 grams of wheat daily as part of an oral challenge, the researchers isolated cells from rectal biopsies and thoroughly characterized them using fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis for intracellular cytokines and surface markers. Analysis of the rectal biopsies of wheat-challenged non-celiac wheat sensitivity patients showed that a significant mucosal CD45+ infiltrate consisted of CD3+ and CD3− lymphocytes, with the latter spontaneously producing more interferon (IFN)-γ than IBS controls.

About 30% of IFN-γ-producing CD45+ cells were T-bet+, CD56−, NKP44−, and CD117−, defining them as a type-1 innate lymphoid cells (ILC1). IFN-γ-producing ILC1 cells significantly decreased in 10 patients analyzed 2 weeks after they resumed a wheat-free diet.

This study shows that IFN-γ-producing ILC1 cells infiltrate rectal mucosa, promoting the lymphoid cell population, which gives rise to non-celiac wheat sensitivity.

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