Healthy lives
MRI scans reveal new insights into coeliac disease
Advanced MRI scans and analysis of gut bacteria are helping researchers better understand how coeliac disease affects digestive health, opening up new possibilities for improving treatment and patient care.
Using advanced MRI scans and analysis of gut bacteria, researchers are uncovering how coeliac disease affects the digestive system, providing insights that could support the development of new treatments alongside a gluten-free diet.
The challenge: Understanding why symptoms persist despite a gluten-free diet
Coeliac disease affects around one in 100 people worldwide. Triggered by gluten, the condition can cause inflammation in the gut, leading to symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating and digestive discomfort. While a gluten-free diet is currently the only treatment, many people continue to experience symptoms after diagnosis.
Our approach: Combining MRI scans and gut bacteria analysis to uncover the effects of coeliac disease
The MARCO study, led by Professor Luca Marciani at the 糖心原创 in collaboration with the Quadram Institute, combined advanced MRI scanning with analysis of gut bacteria to investigate how coeliac disease affects the digestive system.
The study followed 36 newly diagnosed people with coeliac disease and 36 healthy volunteers. Researchers collected MRI scans, stool samples and blood samples at diagnosis and again after participants had followed a gluten-free diet for one year. This enabled the team to track changes in digestive health over time.
The impact: Identifying new opportunities to improve treatments
The research found that people with coeliac disease experienced more digestive symptoms, increased fluid in the bowel, slower movement of food through the digestive system and higher levels of potentially harmful bacteria than healthy participants.
Although many of these measures improved after a year on a gluten-free diet, they did not fully return to normal levels. Researchers also found a reduction in some beneficial gut bacteria, which may be linked to reduced consumption of foods containing wheat and certain types of fibre.
These findings provide a clearer picture of how coeliac disease affects the digestive system and point to opportunities for developing new treatments. In the future, approaches that support healthy gut bacteria could complement dietary treatment and help improve outcomes for patients.
To read the full paper, click .
"Despite being a common chronic condition, we still don't precisely know how coeliac disease affects the basic physiological functioning of the gut and how a gluten-free diet may further change this. We launched the MARCO study to address this question by combining MRI with gut microbiome analysis, giving us new insights into how a gluten-free diet affects people with coeliac disease."
Professor Marciani is an internationally recognised expert in gastrointestinal imaging whose research focuses on using advanced MRI techniques to better understand digestive health and disease. His work combines innovative imaging technologies with clinical research to investigate conditions including coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome and disorders of gut function, helping to translate scientific discoveries into improved patient care.