L’gluten intolerance could have amazing causes. The season and place of birth would indeed play a role in the occurrence of celiac disease, according to researchers at Umeå University in Sweden. They publish their study in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.
More celiac disease in children born in spring and in the south
These scientists relied on a cohort of more than 1.9 million children aged 0 to 15, born in Sweden between 1991 and 2009. Among them, 6,569 children were declared intolerant to gluten, a diagnosis confirmed by a biopsy. The researchers then compared the cases of celiac disease with the season, region and year of birth. As a result, gluten intolerance is more common in children born in spring, then in those born in summer and in autumn, and finally more rare in those born in winter. In addition, the risk seems higher in children born in southern Sweden, which enjoys intense sunshine in spring and summer, than in the center or north of the country, where springs are colder and summers shorter, remind the authors. “Season and region of birth are independently and jointly associated with an increased risk of developing celiac disease in the first 15 years of life“, conclude the researchers in their publication.
Infectious load and vitamin D deficiency
But how to explain these variations? According to Swedish researchers, this is due to fluctuations in infectious loads, which depend on both seasons and regions. “One of the hypotheses to explain the higher risk of celiac disease for children born in spring and summer is that they are more likely to be weaned and therefore to start absorbing gluten during the fall and winter, periods characterized by exposure to viral infectionsseasonal“, explain the researchers in their article. These infections could then alter the gut bacteria and increase the permeability of intestinal cells, a typical abnormality of gluten intolerance. Another hypothesis: that of a vitamin D deficiencyduring pregnancy. “Pregnant women who give birth in the spring have the lowest vitamin D levels possible during their pregnancy, when the fetal immune system is building up.“, suggest the scientists. The lack of vitamin D in pregnant women has already been linked to a higher risk of multiple sclerosis in children, chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or even diabetestype 1.
But before these results can be generalized, further studies carried out over a larger geographical area are necessary.
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