In a promising new study, scientists have adapted an experimental cancer treatment to control celiac disease.
The method successfully quietened the gut’s autoimmune reaction in tests using mice, suggesting the treatment could one day become a first-of-its-kind therapy for humans with the condition.
For the millions of people with celiac disease, even a small brush with gluten can trigger intestinal nastiness. Immune cells mistake the protein for a threat and launch an attack, leading to diarrhea, pain, and other unpleasant symptoms.
A team led by scientists at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland demonstrated a new immunotherapy that seems to quell this overreaction – in mice at least.
The researchers engineered regulatory T cells (T regs); a type of immune tissue that calms down the symptom-causing…