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- Wheat Protein-fed Mice Show Higher Incidence of Diabetes and Intestinal Damage Than Those on Gluten-Free Diet
Wheat Protein-fed Mice Show Higher Incidence of Diabetes and Intestinal Damage Than Those on Gluten-Free Diet
- By Scott Adams
- Published 04/29/2005
- Diabetes and Celiac Disease
- Unrated
Scott Adams
In 1994 I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which led me to create Celiac.com in 1995. I created this site for a single purpose: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living happy, healthy gluten-free lives. Celiac.com was the first site on the Internet dedicated solely to celiac disease, and since then it has become an invaluable resource to people worldwide who seek information about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet.
In 1998 I created The Gluten-Free Mall, Your Special Diet Superstore! which was also another Internet first—it was the first gluten-free food site to offer a shopping cart-style interface, and the ability for people to order gluten-free products manufactured by many different companies at a single Web site.
Wheat Protein-fed Mice Show Higher Incidence of Diabetes and Intestinal Damage Than Those on Gluten-Free Diet
Diabetologia. 2005 Apr 14
Celiac.com 04/29/2005 – According to Italian researchers an improper immune response to wheat may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Type 1 diabetes. The researchers fed one group of female non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice a standard gluten-free diet, while another group of NOD mice was fed a standard gluten-free diet that also included wheat proteins. The researchers then evaluated the small intestinal architecture of the mice and found that the wheat-protein group "showed reduced villous height, increased intraepithelial infiltration by CD3(+) cells and enhanced expression of H2-IA and IFN-gamma mRNA when compared with mice on the gluten-free diet." After 43 weeks the cumulative incidence of diabetes was 65% in the gluten-free group, and 97% in the wheat-protein group. The researchers conclude that the mice that ate wheat proteins had a much higher incidence of diabetes and small intestinal enteropathy that included higher mucosal levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
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