RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The immune and microbial homeostasis determines the Candida–mast cells cross-talk in celiac disease JF Life Science Alliance JO Life Sci. Alliance FD Life Science Alliance LLC SP e202302441 DO 10.26508/lsa.202302441 VO 7 IS 7 A1 Renga, Giorgia A1 Pariano, Marilena A1 D’Onofrio, Fiorella A1 Pieraccini, Giuseppe A1 Di Serio, Claudia A1 Villella, Valeria Rachela A1 Abbate, Carlo A1 Puccetti, Matteo A1 Giovagnoli, Stefano A1 Stincardini, Claudia A1 Bellet, Marina Maria A1 Ricci, Maurizio A1 Costantini, Claudio A1 Oikonomou, Vasileios A1 Romani, Luigina YR 2024 UL http://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/7/7/e202302441.abstract AB Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy resulting from an interaction between diet, genome, and immunity. Although many patients respond to a gluten-free diet, in a substantive number of individuals, the intestinal injury persists. Thus, other factors might amplify the ongoing inflammation. Candida albicans is a commensal fungus that is well adapted to the intestinal life. However, specific conditions increase Candida pathogenicity. The hypothesis that Candida may be a trigger in CD has been proposed after the observation of similarity between a fungal wall component and two CD-related gliadin T-cell epitopes. However, despite being implicated in intestinal disorders, Candida may also protect against immune pathologies highlighting a more intriguing role in the gut. Herein, we postulated that a state of chronic inflammation associated with microbial dysbiosis and leaky gut are favorable conditions that promote C. albicans pathogenicity eventually contributing to CD pathology via a mast cells (MC)-IL-9 axis. However, the restoration of immune and microbial homeostasis promotes a beneficial C. albicans–MC cross-talk favoring the attenuation of CD pathology to alleviate CD pathology and symptoms.