Altered small-bowel mucosal vascular network in untreated coeliac disease

It has recently been shown that serum autoantibodies targeted against transglutaminase 2 derived from untreated coeliac patients can disturb several steps of angiogenesis in vitro. The purpose of this study was to establish whether the small-bowel mucosal vasculature is altered in coeliac disease and whether the putative changes are gluten dependent.

The small-bowel mucosal microvessel architecture was examined in duodenal biopsy samples from coeliac patients before and after a gluten-free diet and from non-coeliac controls. In addition, the vasculature was subjected to a detailed morphometric analysis. Double immunofluorescent stainings of the vasculature with anti- alpha-smooth muscle actin antibody were performed in order to assess the maturity of mucosal vessels. Coeliac disease-specific transglutaminase 2-targeted autoantibody deposits in the vessel wall were studied using triple immunofluorescent stainings.

On a gluten-containing diet the mucosal vasculature in the small intestine of untreated coeliac disease patients was altered in overall organization as well as in the number and maturity of the vessels when compared to healthy subjects. In patients on a gluten-free diet, the vasculature normalized parallel to mucosal recovery.

In coeliac disease, ingestion of gluten leads to altered appearance of small-bowel mucosal microvasculature. It is thus conceivable that the small-bowel mucosal vascular biology might be involved in the pathogenesis of coeliac disease.