Genes and celiac disease

Celiac disease is a chronic infl ammatory disease of the small intestine triggered by gluten intake, which occurs in genetically susceptible individuals. The purpose of this paper is to present recent fi ndings in the genetics of celiac disease. Genetic background of celiac disease related to human leukocyte antigen locus (HLA) as a dominant genetic element has been well described. However, the existence of a large number of non-HLA celiac disease genes, only partly shared by each individual patient, suggests genetic heterogeneity of the disease. In addition, it has been observed that many of these risk loci in celiac disease are common with the loci for other autoimmune diseases. A signifi cant contribution to our knowledge has been provided by recent genome-wide association studies, but great part of the still unknown heritability in celiac disease is yet to be explored in the future.

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