Beyond the Joint: What’s Happening in the Gut

Rheumatoid arthritis and celiac disease belong to the autoimmune disease family. Despite being separate entities they share multiple serological and genetic aspects. Celiac disease associated serum bio-markers are observed in rheumatoid arthritis. Contrary to their specific HLA pre-disposition, the diseases share multiple non-HLA loci. Those genes are crucial for activation and regulation of adaptive and innate immunity. Recently, light was shed on the interaction between host genetics and microbiota composition in relation to celiac disease and rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility, connecting bugs and us and autoimmunity. The present editorial updates and clarifies those aspects.