New research has identified four aspects of immune system disturbance¹（干扰，骚乱） which lead to the development of coeliac disease（乳糜泄，脂泄病） . Nearly 40 different inherited risk factors which predispose（预先处置，使安排于） to the disease have now been identified. These latest findings could speed the way towards improved diagnostics and treatments for the autoimmune（自身免疫的） complaint that affects 1 in 100 of the population, and lead to insights into related conditions such as type 1 diabetes²（糖尿病） . David van Heel, Professor of Gastrointestinal Genetics at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry has led an international team of researchers towards the discovery. Results of their research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, and supported by the patient charity Coeliac UK, are published online in Nature Genetics on Sunday 28 Feb 2010.

Professor van Heel, commenting on the latest findings said: "We can now shed light on some of the precise（精确的，严格的） immune disturbances⁵ leading to coeliac disease. These include how T cells in the body react to toxic⁶（有毒的） wheat proteins, how the thymus gland⁷（胸腺） eliminates these T cells during infancy⁸, and the body's response to viral infections（病毒性感染） . We now understand that many of these genetic⁴ risk factors work by altering the amounts of these immune system genes⁹ that cells make. The data also suggests that coeliac disease is made up of hundreds of genetic risk factors, we can have a good guess at nearly half of the genetic risk at present."

The study also shows that there is substantial evidence to indicate a shared risk between the gene³ associated with coeliac disease and many other common chronic¹⁰（慢性的，长期的） immune mediated¹¹（仲裁，调停） diseases. Previously¹² Professor van Heel had identified an overlap¹³（重叠，重复） between coeliac disease and type 1 diabetes risk regions, as well as coeliac disease and rheumatoid arthritis¹⁴（风湿性关节炎） .

Coeliac disease is common in the West, affecting around one per cent of the population. It is an auto-immune disease triggered by an intolerance（偏狭，不宽容） to gluten（麸质，谷蛋白） (a protein found in foods containing wheat, barley¹⁵大麦 and rye黑麦) that prevents normal absorption（吸收，全神贯注） of nutrients¹⁶. If undetected it can lead to severe health problems including anaemia（贫血） , poor bone health, fatigue¹⁷（疲劳，疲乏） and weight loss.