Celiac disease (CD) is associated with decreased bone mineral mass. Its pathogenesis is multifactorial since both systemic
and local mechanisms may play a role. Our objective was to determine whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms in genes encoding
members of the interleukin-1 family are associated with bone damage measured by densitometry in a series of 71 adult CD patients
assessed at diagnosis. When compared with non-carrier CD patients, carriers of allele T of the interleukin-1β gene (
IL1B-511T) had a significantly lower bone mass at the total skeleton level (
p=0.0484) and a greater prevalence of osteopenia/osteoporosis (
p=0.0102). To our knowledge, this is the first evidence on the association between a genetic predisposition and low bone mass
in CD patients. This finding supports the postulated inflammation-associated bone loss pathogenesis as one of the causes of
bone weakness in CD.
Keywords Celiac disease - IL-1 - Genetic polymorphism - Osteoporosis