[Coeliac disease and reproduction: possible in vivo models].

Presently there are no in vivo models to study the different effects of coeliac disease (CD) including the increase of reproductive risks. CD is a multifactorial condition which requires both an exogenous element (gluten) and complex genetic factors; moreover, CD is associated to several endocrine, immune and reproductive diseases. There are no adequate in vivo models for the systemic complications of CD; in particular, there are no genetic knock-out models. However, models are available for gluten enteropathy such as Irish Setter and Balb/c and BDF1 mouse strains, and also for endocrine-immune diseases associated to CD such as BB rats and NOD mice. These models could be used to study reproductive aspects. This is desirable because a new model for dermatitis herpetiformis tightly associated with CD, that uses HLA-DQ8 transgenic NOD mice, has already been identified.