Responses of blood mononucleated cells and clinical outcome of non-celiac gluten sensitive pediatric patients to various cereal sources: a pilot study

Abstract

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a clinical entity recently documented by the scientific community in pediatric patients. Nevertheless, its triggering mechanisms remain largely unsettled. We studied 11 children with NCGS who were diagnosed based on a clear-cut relationship between wheat consumption and development of symptoms, after excluding celiac disease (CD) and wheat allergy, matched with 18 children with active CD. Sixteen pediatric patients were also enrolled as controls. Cultured peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMCs) obtained from NCGS, CD and control patients were cultured in the presence of wheat proteins extracted from ancient and modern cultivars. Results demonstrated that wheat proteins induced an overactivation of the proinflammatory chemokine CXCL10 in PBMC from NCGS pediatric patients and that this overexpression also depended on the wheat cultivar from which proteins were extracted. Proteins from modern wheat cultivar activated CXCL10 to a greater extent than those extracted from ancient wheat genotypes.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Non-celiac gluten sensitivity
• inflammation
• CXCL10
• ancient wheat varieties
• celiac disease

Acknowledgements

English language was revised by Dr. Collins, editor of scientific publications and member of the European Medical Writers Association.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by University of Bologna (RFO 2015 Grant to E.S.) and partially by a grant from the Kamut Enterprises of Europe (KEE) Oudenaarde, Belgium (to G.D.). KAMUT^® is a registered trademark of Kamut International, Ltd. and Kamut Enterprises of Europe, bvba.