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Autoimmune Diseases: The Protective Effect of the Gluten-Free Diet

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutritional Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 March 2024) | Viewed by 2813

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: food allergy; celiac disease; food quality control; food safety; food supplements; antioxidants; wine analysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cereals are an important food in human nutrition, but wheat- and gluten-containing cereals are toxic for some consumers. The term gluten refers to a protein complex typical of some cereals which provides viscosity, elasticity, and cohesion to flour-based doughs. There are two wheat proteins that are part of gluten: prolamin, called gliadin, and glutenin.

Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system produces antibodies that wrongly attack the body’s own cells.  There are many different autoimmune diseases, and one of the most common, coeliac disease, involves gluten. The symptoms of celiac disease include constipation, diarrhea, and atrophy of the intestinal villi, which represents one of the diagnostic conditions of the pathology.

A gluten-free diet (GFD) is the foundation of the safe and effective treatment of celiac disease; in fact, a good GFD compliance improves the symptoms and quality of life of these subjects. Some evidence indicates that gluten is related to the increased incidence of pathologies other than celiac disease, the genesis of which is still not fully understood. From the available data, it cannot be excluded that these diseases may also have an autoimmune origin.

This Special Issue provides a platform for researchers to discuss the relationship between gluten-free diets and autoimmune diseases, with the aim of helping to promote the development of this field. This Special Issue welcomes original articles, as well as narrative and systematic reviews.

Prof. Dr. Patrizia Restani
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • gluten
  • autoimmune diseases
  • GFD
  • immunity
  • celiac disease
  • food intolerance
  • gastrointestinal disorders

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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24 pages, 1186 KiB  
Systematic Review
The Impact of Dietary Factors during Pregnancy on the Development of Islet Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes: A Systematic Literature Review
by Valdemar Brimnes Ingemann Johansen, Knud Josefsen and Julie Christine Antvorskov
Nutrients 2023, 15(20), 4333; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15204333 - 11 Oct 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2092
Abstract
Aims and hypothesis: The incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children is considerably increasing in western countries. Thus, identification of the environmental determinants involved could ultimately lead to disease prevention. Here, we aimed to systematically review (PROSPERO ID: CRD42022362522) the current evidence [...] Read more.
Aims and hypothesis: The incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children is considerably increasing in western countries. Thus, identification of the environmental determinants involved could ultimately lead to disease prevention. Here, we aimed to systematically review (PROSPERO ID: CRD42022362522) the current evidence of the association between maternal dietary factors during gestation and the risk of developing type 1 diabetes and/or islet autoimmunity (IA) in murine and human offspring. Methods: In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, the present systematic review searched PubMed and Scopus (n = 343) for different combinations of MeSH terms, such as type 1 diabetes, diet, islet autoimmunity, prenatal, nutrient, gluten, gliadin, vitamin, milk, and fibers. Results: We found that the most investigated dietary factors in the present literature were gluten, dietary advanced glycosylated end products (dAGEs), vitamin D, fatty acids, and iron. The results concerning prenatal exposure to a gluten-free environment showed a consistently protective effect on the development of IA. Prenatal exposures to vitamin D and certain fatty acids appeared to protect against the development of IA, whereas in utero iron and fat exposures correlated with increased risks of IA. Conclusion: We conclude that a definite association is not established for most factors investigated as the literature represents a heterogeneous pool of data, although fetal exposures to some maternal dietary components, such as gluten, show consistent associations with increased risks of IA. We suggest that human prospective dietary intervention studies in both cohort and clinical settings are crucial to better evaluate critical and protective prenatal exposures from the maternal diet during pregnancy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Autoimmune Diseases: The Protective Effect of the Gluten-Free Diet)
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