Abstract

Celiac disease (CD), with a 1% world-wide prevalence, is an enteropathy caused by an autoimmune reaction to gluten in genetically susceptible individuals, that codify for histocompatibility molecules HLA DQ-2/DQ-8. From the anatomical point of view, CD is characterized by intestinal villous atrophy, crypt hyperplasia, intraepithelial lymphocytosis (IELs) and leukocyte infiltration of the lamina propria. Patients achieve a complete clinical and endoscopic remission with a gluten free diet. However, symptoms and anatomical alterations recur when this protein is reintroduced in the diet. The pathogenic mechanisms in this disease are not yet well understood, but it is clear that genetic, environmental and immunological factors play a role. The latter are the focus of this review, since this is the only autoimmune disease whose precipitating factor for immunological tissue damage is known.