Ancient pathogen-driven adaptation triggers increased susceptibility to non-celiac wheat sensitivity in present-day European populations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Non-celiac wheat sensitivity is an emerging wheat-related syndrome showing peak prevalence in Western populations. Recent studies hypothesize that new gliadin alleles introduced in the human diet by replacement of ancient wheat with modern varieties can prompt immune responses mediated by the CXCR3-chemokine axis potentially underlying such pathogenic inflammation. This cultural shift may also explain disease epidemiology, having turned European-specific adaptive alleles previously targeted by natural selection into disadvantageous ones.

Methods

To explore this evolutionary scenario, we performed ultra-deep sequencing of genes pivotal in the CXCR3-inflammatory pathway on individuals diagnosed for non-celiac wheat sensitivity and we applied anthropological evolutio

SUBMITTER: Sazzini M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4968434 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature