TY - JOUR A2 - Songini, Marco AU - Bruun, Susanne W. AU - Josefsen, Knud AU - Tanassi, Julia T. AU - Marek, Aleš AU - Pedersen, Martin H. F. AU - Sidenius, Ulrik AU - Haupt-Jorgensen, Martin AU - Antvorskov, Julie C. AU - Larsen, Jesper AU - Heegaard, Niels H. AU - Buschard, Karsten PY - 2016 DA - 2016/10/04 TI - Large Gliadin Peptides Detected in the Pancreas of NOD and Healthy Mice following Oral Administration SP - 2424306 VL - 2016 AB - Gluten promotes type 1 diabetes in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice and likely also in humans. In NOD mice and in non-diabetes-prone mice, it induces inflammation in the pancreatic lymph nodes, suggesting that gluten can initiate inflammation locally. Further, gliadin fragments stimulate insulin secretion from beta cells directly. We hypothesized that gluten fragments may cross the intestinal barrier to be distributed to organs other than the gut. If present in pancreas, gliadin could interact directly with the immune system and the beta cells to initiate diabetes development. We orally and intravenously administered 33-mer and 19-mer gliadin peptide to NOD, BALB/c, and C57BL/6 mice and found that the peptides readily crossed the intestinal barrier in all strains. Several degradation products were found in the pancreas by mass spectroscopy. Notably, the exocrine pancreas incorporated large amounts of radioactive label shortly after administration of the peptides. The study demonstrates that, even in normal animals, large gliadin fragments can reach the pancreas. If applicable to humans, the increased gut permeability in prediabetes and type 1 diabetes patients could expose beta cells directly to gliadin fragments. Here they could initiate inflammation and induce beta cell stress and thus contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes. SN - 2314-6745 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/2424306 DO - 10.1155/2016/2424306 JF - Journal of Diabetes Research PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -