Skip to main content
PMC home page
Gut logoLink to Gut
. 1976 Nov;17(11):900–905. doi: 10.1136/gut.17.11.900

Depressed cell-mediated immunity in coeliac disease.

B B Scott, M S Losowsky
PMCID: PMC1411220  PMID: 1087262

Abstract

Fourteen coeliac patients on a gluten free diet (GFD) and 10 on a normal diet were studied by lymphocyte transformation in response to PHA to assess the integrity of cell-mediated immunity (CMI). Transformation was depressed in the majority taking a normal diet, with improvement after a GFD. In some patients the depression may have been due to a serum factor, as transformation was more nearly normal when the lymphocytes were cultured in pooled AB serum than in their own serum. There was no correlation between transformation and nutritional deficiencies. Mantoux tests were performed in some of these and other coeliac patients and there was a very significant reduction in the incidence of positive tests compared with controls. These findings provide evidence of depressed CMI in coeliac patients taking a normal diet with improvement on a GFD and may be of relevance to the high risk of malignancy in coeliac disease, further strengthening the case for a strict GFD.

Full text

PDF
900

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ansaldi N., De Sanctis C., Fabris C., Ponzone A. Blastizzazione linfocitaria in vitro con fitoemoagglutinina e con glutine in banbini affetti da morbo celiaco. Minerva Pediatr. 1970 Sep 29;22(39):1907–1912. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Austad W. I., Cornes J. S., Gough K. R., McCarthy C. F., Read A. E. Steatorrhea and malignant lymphoma. The relationship of malignant tumors of lymphoid tissue and celiac disease. Am J Dig Dis. 1967 May;12(5):475–490. doi: 10.1007/BF02233180. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Baker P. G., Jones J. V., Peacock D. B., Read A. E. Proceedings: Evidence of immunodeficiency in patients with coeliac disease. Gut. 1974 Oct;15(10):835–835. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Beale A. J., Douglas A. P., Parish W. E., Hobbs J. R. Impaired IgA responses in coeliac disease. Lancet. 1971 Jun 12;1(7711):1198–1200. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(71)91714-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Blecher T. E., Brzechwa-Ajdukiewicz A., McCarthy C. F., Read A. E. Serum immunoglobulins and lymphocyte transformation studies in coeliac disease. Gut. 1969 Jan;10(1):57–62. doi: 10.1136/gut.10.1.57. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Booth C. C. The enterocyte in coeliac disease. Br Med J. 1970 Oct 3;4(5726):14–17. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5726.14. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Burnet F. M. Immunological aspects of malignant disease. Lancet. 1967 Jun 3;1(7501):1171–1174. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(67)92837-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Caspary E. A., Hughes D. Liquid scintillation counting techniques in lymphocyte transformation in vitro measured by tritiated thymine uptake. J Immunol Methods. 1972 May;1(3):263–272. doi: 10.1016/0022-1759(72)90004-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fitzgerald M. G. A satisfactory quantitative test of lymphocyte response to phytohaemagglutinin for the definition of normal control values and recognition of immunological defects. J Clin Pathol. 1972 Feb;25(2):163–168. doi: 10.1136/jcp.25.2.163. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fitzgerald M. G. The establishment of a normal human population dose-response curve for lymphocytes cultured with PHA (phytohaemagglutinin). Clin Exp Immunol. 1971 Mar;8(3):421–425. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. GOUGH K. R., READ A. E., NAISH J. M. Intestinal reticulosis as a complication of idiopathic steatorrhoea. Gut. 1962 Sep;3:232–239. doi: 10.1136/gut.3.3.232. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Geefhuysen J., Rosen E. U., Katz J., Ipp T., Metz J. Impaired cellular immunity in kwashiorkor with improvement after therapy. Br Med J. 1971 Nov 27;4(5786):527–529. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5786.527. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Harris O. D., Cooke W. T., Thompson H., Waterhouse J. A. Malignancy in adult coeliac disease and idiopathic steatorrhoea. Am J Med. 1967 Jun;42(6):899–912. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(67)90071-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Housley J., Asquith P., Cooke W. T. Immune response to gluten in adult coeliac disease. Br Med J. 1969 Apr 19;2(5650):159–161. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5650.159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hughes D., Caspary E. A. Lymphocyte transformation in vitro measured by tritiated thymidine uptake. I. Lymphocyte culture techniques. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1970;37(5):506–531. doi: 10.1159/000230240. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Immunodeficiency disease and malignancy. Various immunologic deficiencies of man and the role of immune processes in the control of malignant disease. Ann Intern Med. 1972 Oct;77(4):605–628. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lowenfels A. B. Why are small-bowel tumours so rare? Lancet. 1973 Jan 6;1(7793):24–26. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(73)91228-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Maclaurin B. P., Cooke W. T., Ling N. R. Impaired lymphocyte reactivity against tumour cells in patients with coeliac disease. Gut. 1971 Oct;12(10):794–800. doi: 10.1136/gut.12.10.794. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. McCarthy C. F., Fraser I. D., Evans K. T., Read A. E. Lymphoreticular dysfunction in idiopathic steatorrhoea. Gut. 1966 Apr;7(2):140–148. doi: 10.1136/gut.7.2.140. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Morganroth J., Watson D. W., French A. B. Cellular and humoral sensitivity to gluten fractions in patients with treated nontropical sprue. Am J Dig Dis. 1972 Mar;17(3):205–212. doi: 10.1007/BF02232292. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. O'Donoghue D. P., Lancaster-Smith M., Kumar P. J. Proceedings: Depletion of thymus-dependent lymphocytes in adult coeliac disease. Gut. 1975 May;16(5):392–393. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Paty D. W., Hughes D. Lymphocyte transformation using whole blood cultures: an analysis of responses. J Immunol Methods. 1972 Nov;2(1):99–114. doi: 10.1016/0022-1759(72)90022-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Popović O., Andrejevic M., Pendić B., Lovrić L., Djordjević V. Lymphocyte transformation in coeliac disease. Lancet. 1970 Oct 3;2(7675):725–725. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)91998-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Richter M., Naspitz C. K. The variation in response of human peripheral lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin in vitro. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1967;32(3):288–293. doi: 10.1159/000229939. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Schellekens P. T., Eijsvoogel V. P. Lymphocyte transformation in vitro. I. Tissue culture conditions and quantitative measurements. Clin Exp Immunol. 1968 Jul;3(6):571–584. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Smythe P. M., Brereton-Stiles G. G., Grace H. J., Mafoyane A., Schonland M., Coovadia H. M., Loening W. E., Parent M. A., Vos G. H. Thymolymphatic deficiency and depression of cell-mediated immunity in protein-calorie malnutrition. Lancet. 1971 Oct 30;2(7731):939–943. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(71)90267-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. TERASAKI P. I., MCCLELLAND J. D. MICRODROPLET ASSAY OF HUMAN SERUM CYTOTOXINS. Nature. 1964 Dec 5;204:998–1000. doi: 10.1038/204998b0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Wattenberg L. W. Carcinogen-detoxifying mechanisms in the gastrointestinal tract. Gastroenterology. 1966 Nov;51(5):932–935. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Weetman A. P., Haggith J., Douglas A. P. Proceedings: Enteric loss of lymphocytes in coeliac disease and in Crohn's disease. Gut. 1974 Oct;15(10):823–823. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Winter G. C., McCarthy C. F., Read A. E., Yoffey J. M. Development of macrophages in phytohaemagglutinin cultures of blood from patients with idiopathic steatorrhoea and with cirrhosis. Br J Exp Pathol. 1967 Feb;48(1):66–80. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Gut are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES