Using Non-Inflammatory Gluten Peptide Analogs as Biomarkers for Celiac Disease

Celiac.com 09/30/2009 - Are non-inflammatory gluten peptide analogs effective as biomarkers for celiac disease? Recent research indicates that they just might represent an effective new tool in the management of celiac disease.

In the August 28th issue of Chemical Biology, a team of researchers from Stanford University's Department of Biochemistry issues a call for new tools to manage celiac disease, a lifelong immune disease of the small intestine. Non-inflammatory gluten peptide analogs may be one of the important new tools in that effort.

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The research team is made up of M. T. Bethune, M. Crespo-Bosque, E. Bergseng, K. Mazumdar, L. Doyle, K. Sestak, L. M. Sollid, and C. Khosla.

They note that current drug trials are sparking a researchers to seek non-invasive biomarkers of gluten-induced intestinal change.  They note also that they have synthesized and characterized non-inflammatory gluten peptide analogs in which Asn or His replace key Gln residues.

As with their pro-inflammatory associates, these genetic markers resist gastrointestinal proteases, are susceptible to glutenases, and permeable across enterocyte barriers.

In contrast with gluten peptides, however, the markers are not commonly acknowledged by transglutaminase, HLA-DQ2, or disease-specific T cells.

In vitro and animal tests prove that the biomarkers can reveal shifts in intestinal permeability as well as glutenase-catalyzed gastric detoxification of gluten.

As a result, they call for controlled clinical studies to assess the use of these peptides as markers for abnormal intestinal permeability in celiac patients and for the effectiveness of glutenase in clinical trial and treatment of celiac disease.

Chem Biol. 2009 Aug 28;16(8):868-81.