An imbalance between different immune cells, among them T-cells and inflammatory cells, has been proposed to be part of the disease process in type 1 diabetes (T1D), celiac disease and allergy. T-cells and inflammatory cells exert their actions through cytokines and chemokines, and the secretion of those can be used to describe the cell milieu during an immune response.
This study included seventy-two children, diagnosed with T1D, celiac disease, allergy, or a combination of two of these diseases and compared to reference children. The study aimed to evaluate the secretion of 27 different cytokines and chemokines in cell culture supernatant after in vitro stimulation with disease-associated antigens (birch, gluten, insulin) detected by Luminex technique.
Combination of allergy with either T1D or celiac disease gave diverging results. Children with combination of T1D and allergy showed an increased secretion of several cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-7, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12, IL-15, IL-17 and CCL11), in comparison to almost all groups from birch stimulation. In contrast, when allergy was combined with celiac disease, the spontaneous secretion of IL-1β, IL-5, IL-6, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12 and CCL3 was decreased compared to children with T1D or allergy, as well as children with celiac disease alone, children with combination of T1D and allergy and reference children.
In conclusion, our results shed some light on the immune responses in children with common immunological diseases. Our study indicates diverging immune responses when allergy, type 1 diabetes and celiac disease coexist.