Bay Biosciences provides high quality, clinical grade serum (sera), plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) biofluid samples from treatment-naive patients newly diagnosed with Celiac Disease.

Moreover, detailed clinical annotations including patient’s corresponding diagnostic test values associated with the celiac disease samples.

 

Celiac Disease Overview

An immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, is known as celiac disease. Specifically, an abnormal immune reaction to gluten causes it; thus, celiac disease is classified as a digestive autoimmune disorder.

Additionally, it is referred to as sprue, nontropical sprue, and gluten sensitive enteropathy. Notably, it is estimated that 1 in 100 people worldwide are affected by celiac disease. In individuals with celiac disease, eating gluten triggers an immune response in the small intestine. Over time, this reaction damages the lining of the small intestine and, consequently, prevents the absorption of nutrients (malabsorption).

As a result, diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, bloating, and anemia are often caused by the intestinal damage, which can lead to serious complications. Furthermore, in children, growth and development can be adversely affected by malabsorption, in addition to causing the symptoms observed in adults.

Although there is no cure for celiac disease, managing symptoms and promoting intestinal healing over time can often be achieved for most patients by adhering to a strict gluten-free diet. Specifically, foods made with wheat, barley, rye, and triticale contain gluten, which is a protein. Moreover, oats processed in facilities handling other grains also contain gluten.

Gluten

Certain medicines, vitamins, and lipsticks can contain gluten. Furthermore, the body’s inability to digest or break down gluten characterizes gluten intolerance , also known as gluten sensitivity. In contrast, a mild sensitivity to gluten is experienced by some individuals, while celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder, is diagnosed in others.

Specifically, in celiac disease, toxins released by the immune response to gluten destroy the villi. Notably, the villi are tiny finger-like protrusions found inside the small intestines. Consequently, damage to the villi prevents the body from absorbing nutrients from food, which can result in malnutrition and various serious health complications, including permanent intestinal damage.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), about 1 in 141 Americans has celiac disease, and it is unknown to many that they have it.

Therefore, individuals with celiac disease must eliminate all forms of gluten from their diet, which includes most bread products, baked goods, beer, and foods where gluten may serve as a stabilizing ingredient.

Signs and Symptoms of Celiac Disease

The signs and symptoms of celiac disease can vary greatly; moreover, they differ between children and adults. Common digestive system signs and symptoms experienced by adults with celiac disease include, for instance:

Unrelated Symptoms to the Digestive System

More than half the adults with celiac disease exhibit signs and symptoms that are unrelated to the digestive system. Specifically, these include the following:

  • Anemia, usually from iron deficiency
  • Additionally, Loss of bone density (osteoporosis) or softening of bone (osteomalacia)
  • Furthermore, itchy, blistery skin rash (dermatitis herpetiformis)
  • In addition, mouth ulcers
  • Moreover, headaches 
  • Fatigue, as well
  • Furthermore, nervous system injury, including numbness and tingling in the feet and hands, possible problems with balance, and cognitive impairment
  • Also, joint pain
  • Finally, reduced functioning of the spleen (hyposplenism)

Children

Children with celiac disease are more likely than adults to have digestive system problems, including the following:

Consequently, the inability to absorb nutrients may lead to conditions:

  • Such as, failure to thrive for infants
  • Damage to tooth enamel
  • Weight loss
  • Anemia
  • Irritability
  • Short stature
  • Delayed puberty
  • These neurological symptoms, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, headaches, lack of muscle coordination and seizures.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis

This itchy, blistering skin disease can be caused by gluten intolerance. Specifically, the rash usually appears on the elbows, knees, torso, scalp, and buttocks.

Additionally, changes to the lining of the small intestine that are identical to those of celiac disease are often associated with this condition; however, digestive symptoms might not occur. Therefore, a gluten-free diet, medication, or both treat dermatitis herpetiformis and control the rash.

Causes of Celiac Disease

Regarding the Causes of Celiac Disease, celiac disease can be contributed to by genes combined with eating foods containing gluten, along with other factors. Nonetheless, the precise cause of its development remains unknown.

For instance, factors such as infant-feeding practices, gastrointestinal infections, and gut bacteria may also play a role. Furthermore, activation of celiac disease can occur after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, a viral infection, or severe emotional stress.

Consequently, when gluten in food triggers an overreaction from the body’s immune system, the tiny, hair-like projections (villi) that line the small intestine are damaged.

In fact, these villi are responsible for absorbing vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from the food consumed. As a result, if the villi are damaged, sufficient nutrient absorption cannot occur, regardless of the quantity of food ingested.

Risk Factors of Celiac Disease

People who have a family member with the following diseases tend to have a higher prevalence of celiac disease:

Complications of Celiac Disease

The following problems and conditions can be caused by untreated Celiac disease:

Malnutrition

  • Firstly, Malnutrition: This occurs when enough nutrients cannot be absorbed by the small intestine. Consequently, anemia and weight loss can result from malnutrition. In children, slow growth and short stature may occur as a consequence of malnutrition.

Bone Weakening

  • Secondly, Bone Weakening: A softening of the bone (osteomalacia or rickets) in children, as well as a loss of bone density (osteopenia or osteoporosis) in adults, can result from malabsorption of calcium and vitamin D.

Infertility and Miscarriage

  • Moreover, malabsorption of calcium and vitamin D can contribute to reproductive health problems such as infertility and miscarriage.

Lactose Intolerance

  • Additionally, Lactose Intolerance: Damage to the small intestine might cause abdominal pain and diarrhea after eating or drinking dairy products that contain lactose. However, once healed, the intestine might allow the tolerance of dairy products again.

Cancer

  • Furthermore, Cancer: Patients with celiac disease who do not maintain a gluten-free diet are associated with a greater risk of developing several forms of cancer, including intestinal lymphoma and small bowel cancer.

Nervous System

  • Lastly, Nervous system problems: Problems such as seizures or a disease of the nerves to the hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy) may develop in some patients with celiac disease.

Non-responsive celiac disease

What some patients with celiac disease consider to be a gluten-free diet is not responded to by them. Contamination of the diet with gluten often causes non-responsive celiac disease.

Patients with non-responsive celiac disease might also develop the following conditions:

  • Bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine
  • Microscopic colitis
  • Pancreatic insufficiency)
  • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • Difficulty digesting sugar found in dairy products (lactose), table sugar (sucrose), or a type of sugar found in honey and fruits (fructose)
  • Refractory celiac disease

Refractory Celiac Disease

In rare instances, a strict gluten-free diet does not lead to a response in the intestinal injury caused by celiac disease; in fact, this condition is referred to as refractory celiac disease.

Moreover, should signs and symptoms persist after adhering to a gluten-free diet for six months to one year, further testing may be necessary **in order to** explore other potential explanations for these symptoms.

Biospecimens

biospecimens

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Human biospecimens are available including cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors for controls, available in all formats and types.

In fact, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples, human biofluids such as serum samples, plasma samples from various diseases and matched controls.

Also, all our human tissue collections, human biospecimens and human biofluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

In fact, this critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Additionally, researchers find the patient’s data associated with the human biospecimens extremely valuable and use it to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, as well as in other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and human biological samples, including fresh frozen human biospecimens cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

For example fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as human serum, human plasma and human PBMCs.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) and human biofluids from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

Moreover, we can also procure most human biospecimens and human biofluids, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples and human biofluids are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human biofluids such as  human plasma, human serum, and human PBMCs bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Bay Biosciences also provides human biospecimens from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, Contact us Now.