BACKGROUND AND AIMS Gluten sensitivity is widespread among humans. For example, in celiac disease patients, an inflammatory response to dietary gluten leads to enteropathy, malabsorption, circulating antibodies against gluten and transglutaminase 2, and clinical symptoms such as diarrhea. There is a growing need in fundamental and translational research for animal models that exhibit aspects of...

Villous atrophy, changes in the surface epithelium, mucosal thickening, and glandular hypertrophy were a feature of all the mucosal biopsies from the small intestine obtained from eight coeliac children. No histological differences were observed between the children previously treated with intermittent gluten-free diets and the untreated children. Serial biopsy studies were carried out on one c...

The global prevalence of celiac disease is of one person per 250 inhabitants. The disease is induced by gluten, a peptide contained in wheat, rye and barley that during small intestinal digestion generates smaller peptides. Some of these are resistant to hydrolysis and cross through the epithelium into the mucosa, inducing a cascade of immune reactions leading to the appearance of the disease i...