About Heather Galipeau

Heather Galipeau is an Assistant Professor at McMaster University (Canada) where she is researching dietary and microbial interactions in celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. She obtained her PhD in 2015 from McMaster University in Elena Verdu’s lab, during which she found that the small intestinal microbial background influences the degree of immuno-pathology triggered by dietary antigens, such as gluten.

Celiac disease is a chronic immune-mediated enteropathy that may be unleashed by enteric viral infections. However, new findings in mice identified a commensal protist, Tritrichomonas arnold, that protects against reovirus-induced intolerance to gluten by counteracting virus-induced proinflammatory dendritic cell activation.

Study identifies a role for bacterial proteases in Crohn’s disease

26 Jun 2023

by Amber Hann, Heather Galipeau

Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic remitting and relapsing condition that causes severe inflammation of the intestines and disabling bowel symptoms. It affects millions of lives globally, and although alterations in the gut microbiome have been associated with IBD, precise mechanisms remain incompletely understood. New research from McMaster University now implicates bacterial proteases in Crohn’s disease.

While celiac disease affects predominantly the small intestine, the contribution of the small intestinal microbiota has been largely understudied. New findings characterize the duodenal microbiota in patients with active celiac disease and explores its functional relevance.

Many studies have reported changes in gut microbiome composition in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis, when compared with healthy individuals. While that clearly raises the question about the key role played by gut microbes in IBD pathogenesis, we have yet to pinpoint the causative microbes and their mechanisms.

Genetic predisposition alone cannot fully explain the current rise of food sensitivities, like celiac disease. Scientists have characterized the bacterial enzyme elastase involved in driving immune activation and worsening reactions to gluten in genetically susceptible hosts.

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