Research - NCGS Review says gluten sensitivity may be an innate immune response
This one is hot off the press. Three days ago, a review was published summarizing what we know so far about Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS). The most important conclusion, I think, is that NCGS is immune-mediated. Although we don't know exactly what part of the immune system is involved (not IgE, that would be anaphylaxis, not tTG, that would be celiac, etc..), we do know a few things. For instance it is theorized that it activates an innate immune response.
That's a bit of an odd thing to say. All responses are innate in my body, aren't they? What does this mean exactly? Two definitions:
From: http://www.biology.arizona.edu/immunology/tutorials/immunology/page3.html
Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity: How Its Gut Immune Activation and Potential Dietary Management Differ From Celiac Disease.
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2018 Mar 26:e1700854. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201700854. [Epub ahead of print]
Aufiero VR1, Fasano A2, Mazzarella G1.
Immuno-Morphology lab, Institute of Food Sciences, National Council Research, Avellino, Italy.
Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center and Center for Celiac Research and Treatment, MassGeneral Hospital for Children - Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
There have been articles attempting to minimize the role of the immune response in NCGS and I hope that this article helps put an end to it. Especially when considering my recent experiments on myself with FODMAPS, it's absurd to me that some corners still claim that NCGS is just a FODMAP sensitivity. Based on this article alone, I can't say whether gluten sensitizes a person to other food allergies or sensitivities, but it does happen sometimes with Celiac disease that the gut must heal before a person can tolerate dairy again.
I really dislike the phrase "diagnosis of exclusion" but a biomarker hasn't been identified yet. I'd urge all speed for identifying at least one because women are gathering lists of diagnoses of exclusion. I have four now... Osteoarthritis, Fibro, ME/CFS and now NCGS. Notice all of these are more frequent in women? I did.
With ME/CFS, some brilliant scientists are working on a "cytokine fingerprint" to diagnose the illness. I've heard that phrase sometimes when reading articles about NCGS also. Whatever the eventual biomarker will be (or multiple biomarkers), the sooner it is found, and in use, the more safe the entire gluten free community will be, including people with Celiac disease. For example, it will lead to fewer people telling restaurant waiters that it's ok to use the same grill for both regular and gluten free foods.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a scientist. I'm a blogger. If you have health questions, you should consider all sources of information, including your doctor, and you shouldn't change things unless you have good reasons to do so and have discussed them with a trained medical professional.
That's a bit of an odd thing to say. All responses are innate in my body, aren't they? What does this mean exactly? Two definitions:
From: http://www.biology.arizona.edu/immunology/tutorials/immunology/page3.html
"Innate immunity Innate immunity refers to nonspecific defense mechanisms that come into play immediately or within hours of an antigen's appearance in the body. These mechanisms include physical barriers such as skin, chemicals in the blood, and immune system cells that attack foreign cells in the body. The innate immune response is activated by chemical properties of the antigen."More at the NIH bookshelf about innate immune response. Article follows, please take a moment to read it:
Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity: How Its Gut Immune Activation and Potential Dietary Management Differ From Celiac Disease.
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2018 Mar 26:e1700854. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201700854. [Epub ahead of print]
Aufiero VR1, Fasano A2, Mazzarella G1.
Immuno-Morphology lab, Institute of Food Sciences, National Council Research, Avellino, Italy.
Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center and Center for Celiac Research and Treatment, MassGeneral Hospital for Children - Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
There have been articles attempting to minimize the role of the immune response in NCGS and I hope that this article helps put an end to it. Especially when considering my recent experiments on myself with FODMAPS, it's absurd to me that some corners still claim that NCGS is just a FODMAP sensitivity. Based on this article alone, I can't say whether gluten sensitizes a person to other food allergies or sensitivities, but it does happen sometimes with Celiac disease that the gut must heal before a person can tolerate dairy again.
I really dislike the phrase "diagnosis of exclusion" but a biomarker hasn't been identified yet. I'd urge all speed for identifying at least one because women are gathering lists of diagnoses of exclusion. I have four now... Osteoarthritis, Fibro, ME/CFS and now NCGS. Notice all of these are more frequent in women? I did.
The problem with 'diagnosis of exclusion' is that people have a tendency to question it. A medical opinion is still important, but when thousands of women repeatedly hear that they have a diagnosis of exclusion, it tends to wear down their trust in medicine.
With ME/CFS, some brilliant scientists are working on a "cytokine fingerprint" to diagnose the illness. I've heard that phrase sometimes when reading articles about NCGS also. Whatever the eventual biomarker will be (or multiple biomarkers), the sooner it is found, and in use, the more safe the entire gluten free community will be, including people with Celiac disease. For example, it will lead to fewer people telling restaurant waiters that it's ok to use the same grill for both regular and gluten free foods.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a scientist. I'm a blogger. If you have health questions, you should consider all sources of information, including your doctor, and you shouldn't change things unless you have good reasons to do so and have discussed them with a trained medical professional.
