近日，刊登在國際雜誌Gastroenterology上的一項研究論文中，來自澳大利亞沃爾特與伊麗莎-霍爾研究所(Walter and Eliza Hall Institute)的研究人員通過研究表示，兒童的乳糜瀉或可反應成年人的一些機體狀況，這對於開發新型治療乳糜瀉的療法或提供一定的幫助。

　　兒童乳糜瀉，即兒童機體對引發成年人患病的穀蛋白中相同的毒性麥膠（俗稱麵筋）產生反抗作用，該研究對於開發針對成年乳糜瀉的新型診斷技術和療法或提供一定的思路；新型潛在的治療乳糜瀉的療法或許是一種免疫療法，其可以誘導機體免疫係統對穀蛋白耐受，從而使得患者重新將穀蛋白加入到日常飲食中。

　　乳糜瀉是一種常見的自身免疫疾病，其是由機體對穀蛋白的不合適的免疫反應所引發的，穀蛋白是小麥、大麥、黑麥及燕麥中的一種特殊蛋白；該病大約在70個澳大利亞個體中會影響1人的健康，使得患者出現消化道症狀，比如為胃氣脹、腹痛以及腹瀉等；目前治療乳糜瀉的唯一療法就是個體終生進行無穀蛋白的飲食方式。

　　早期研究發現，乳糜瀉兒童或許和患乳糜瀉的成年個體機體的免疫反應存在不同，本文研究則首次研究者為何會出現這樣的不同以及出現不同的分子機製；目前研究者急需開發針對各個年齡段個體患乳糜瀉的新型療法及診斷策略；本文研究中，研究者揭示了，個體機體對於穀蛋白的免疫反應在全球範圍內將近90%的乳糜瀉患者（各個年齡段）機體中都是一樣的，因此利用新型靶向免疫療法平台進行乳糜瀉的診斷、治療或可幫助患乳糜瀉的成年人和兒童進行疾病的有效治療。

　　最後研究者Tom McLeod指出，乳糜瀉對於個體的健康及其社會功能都具有深遠的影響，而本文研究為開發治療乳糜瀉患者的新型診斷及治療手段或提供了新的思路和研究基礎。

　　doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2015.07.013

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Consistency in PolyclonalT-cellResponses to Gluten Between Children and Adults withCeliacDisease

　　Melinda Y. Hardy, Adam Girardin, Catherine Pizzey, Donald J. Cameron, Katherine A. Watson, Stefania Picascia, Riccardo Auricchio, Luigi Greco, Carmen Gianfrani, Nicole L. La Gruta, Robert P. Anderson, Jason A. Tye-Din

　　Back Ground and Aims Developing antigen-specific approaches for diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease requires a detailed understanding of the specificity of T cells for gluten. The existing paradigm is that T-cell lines and clones from children differ from those of adults in the hierarchy and diversity of peptide recognition. We aimed to characterize the T-cell response to gluten in children vs adults with celiac disease. Methods Forty-one children with biopsy-proven celiac disease (median age, 9 y; 17 male), who had been on strict gluten-free diets for at least 3 months, were given a 3 day challenge with wheat; blood samples were collected and gluten-specific T cells were measured. We analyzed responses of T cells from these children and from 4 adults with celiac disease to a peptide library and measured T-cell receptor bias. We isolated T-cell clones that recognized dominant peptides and assessed whether gluten peptide recognition was similar between T-cell clones from children and adults. Results We detected gluten-specific responses by T cells from 30 of the children with celiac disease (73%). T cells from the children recognized the same peptides that were immunogenic to adults with celiac disease; deamidation of peptides increased these responses. Age and time since diagnosis did not affect the magnitude of T-cell responses to dominant peptides. T-cell clones specific for dominant α- or ω-gliadin peptides from children with celiac disease had comparable levels of reactivity to wheat, rye, and barley peptides as T-cell clones from adults with celiac disease. The α-gliadin–specific T cells from children had biases in T-cell receptor usage similar to those of adults. Conclusions T cells from children with celiac disease recognize similar gluten peptides as T cells from adults with celiac disease. The findings indicate that peptide-based diagnostics and therapeutics for adults may also be used for children.