Mechanisms of disease: immunopathogenesis of celiac disease

Abstract

Celiac disease is a genetic inflammatory disorder with autoimmune components that is induced by the ingestion of dietary gluten. Refractory sprue and enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma are rare but distinctive complications of the disease. Although the importance of the adaptive immune response to gluten has been well established, observations now also point towards a central role for the gluten-induced innate stress response in the pathogenesis of celiac disease and its malignant complications.