T-Cell Subpopulations in Coeliac Disease; Longterm Follow up with a Gluten Containing Diet

Abstract

The striking increase of T cells in the jejunal epithelium of patients with coeliac disease (CD) (1, 2, 3) suggests that intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) play a role in the constitution of crypt hyperplasia and villous atrophy. IEL might also be involved in the development of tolerance to gluten in some children whose intestinal lesions disappear despite gluten ingestion (4, 5). An important link in the chain of events leading to lymphocyte activation is the T-cell receptor (TCR) by which T cells recognize antigens. Previous studies have shown that a small fraction of IEL, with the TCR τ/δ+, CD4- CD8- phenotype and using Vδ1/Jδ1 gene segment, is increased in CD (6–9). In order to get a better insight into the role of these cells in the development, the persistance and possibly also in the disappearance of intestinal lesions in CD, we decided to study the phenotypes of IEL, with special emphasis on their TCR, in children at different periods of their disease, and particularly after years on a gluten containing diet.