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11th International Coeliac Symposium
Belfast, Ireland  Wednesday, April 28, 2004



The day dawned as many days do on the Emerald Isle – sunshine, shades of 
spring green and smiles from everyone around.  And with a sense of anticipation, 
the 11th Symposium opened.

The day was quite technical, opening with workshops on the ESPGHAN (European 
Society for Paedriatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition) and 
Prolamin working groups and Eurospital (Eurospital is a science based company in the 
fields of pharmaceutical, diagnostics and hospital products). These 
introductory sessions provided updates and future plans for Prevention Strategies for CD 
in Children, Progress in Gluten Analysis, and A Still At Risk Diagnosis for 
each group respectively.

The next session was a review and update of CD diagnosis including lesions 
and their classification, the value of histology and serology in diagnosis, a 
reassessment of the endoscopy, an analysis of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) 
and the identification of refractory CD.  Each topic was presented by a 
separate international expert followed by a question and answer period.  In 
addition, several authors gave mini–presentations of their related papers, abstracts 
or poster entries.  An entire section of the conference hall was also devoted 
to a poster display of a large portion of the submitted papers and abstracts 
for delegates to review at their leisure.

The final session of the day was a discussion of human genetics and CD led by 
researchers from the Netherlands and Italy.  There were eight sessions 
detailing specific genes, gene loci, gene functions and genetic research techniques 
to discover the implications of the parents in the life of a celiac patient.  
Interestingly enough, all reports indicated failure to find the magic key or 
the implicated candidate gene(s) at this time but exposed many more possible 
doors of opportunity to solve the hidden genetic iceberg.



The day was capped off with a witty, thought provoking talk by Professor 
Fergus Shanahan, co–chair of the symposium, which provided a historical 
perspective of “How CD Came To Be  Known As the Irish Disease”.  Weather, Geography, 
and Incursions by foreigners did little to dilute the gene pool that remains 
remarkably undiluted from the Neolithic Age.  Despite the apparent differences, 
feuds, and other stresses of famine, pestilence, landlords and food, the blood 
lines are far more common than diverse across the emerald island.  An 
interesting prelude to a social reception to close out the day.

CSA/USA

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *