Enzyme Discovery is a Major Breakthrough for Finding a Cure

Celiac.com 03/25/2023 - Researchers reported last month that they have discovered the cause of celiac disease: A small fragment of the gluten protein fails to break down and triggers the immune systems into action. In addition to discovering the key fragment that makes gluten so poisonous to celiacs, Dr. Chaitan Khosla, researcher and founder of the Celiac Sprue Research Foundation (CSRF), reports that he has also found a bacterial enzyme that breaks down the toxic peptide and appears to make gluten digestible and safe. The enzyme could well become the key to an oral medication for celiac disease.

The CSRF is a science-driven public charity that seeks to improve the quality of life of celiac patients by promoting research and development, and by enhancing awareness of the disease among scientists, healthcare professionals, consumer product manufacturers and the general public. Its primary goal is to translate emerging knowledge about celiac disease into a comprehensive plan for developing a therapeutic alternative to a gluten-free diet. Once the Foundation’s initial drug development strategy has been launched, it will use available resources to promote basic research that might lead to fundamentally new insights into the disease, and to improve technologies for detecting new patients of this seriously under-diagnosed disease.

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It is anticipated that each of the therapeutic possibilities being researched by the CSRF will require 1-3 years of pre-clinical research before a suitable Investigational New Drug (IND) candidate can be identified for further clinical studies. Once an IND application has been successfully filed with the U.S. FDA or its European equivalent, extensive human clinical studies must be performed to thoroughly assess both the safety and efficacy of the drug candidate. These clinical trials can be expected to last 5-8 years before a prescription drug emerges in the marketplace. Until such studies are successfully completed, no candidate therapeutic agent can be considered suitable for use by celiac sprue patients.

The CSRF has ambitious and achievable goals if it can gain the immediate support of the celiac community. The CSRF is actively raising funds to help support the above research and development efforts.