Combo Therapy May Help Celiac

[Guest nini]

SAR "Healing Autism:

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Wednesday, June 28, 2006 Vol. 10 No. 115

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TREATMENT

Combo Therapy May Help Celiac Disease Patients

. . .And by extension, may be useful in gluten-free dieting, in general.

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Reuters Health - Early tests suggest that therapy with a combination

of two enzymes inactivates gluten in the gut and may someday benefit

patients with celiac disease.

In two papers appearing in the journal Chemistry and Biology, Dr.

Chaitan Khosla and colleagues, from Stanford University in California,

describe the creation of this oral enzyme therapy, which they believe could

alleviate many of the symptoms and complications of celiac sprue.

First, the researchers explain that they genetically engineered EP-B2,

an enzyme found in barley seeds. They then created a compound in which EP-B2

was attached to Escherichia coli, a bacterium normally present in the gut

that is frequently used to transport the active agent in gene therapies.

Further testing of the EP-B2/E. coli compound showed that it efficiently

inactivated a wheat gluten protein at regions toxic to celiac disease

patients.

In the second study, EP-B2, which works under the gastric conditions

that exist in the stomach, was coupled with a prolyl endopeptidase (PEP), an

anti-gluten enzyme that functions in the intestines. Testing of this

compound under conditions that simulated the intestines resulted in rapid

and complete detoxification of grocery store gluten.

"Non-dietary therapies that allow celiac patients to safely

incorporate low-to-moderate levels of gluten into their daily diet would be

of considerable benefit," Khosla said in a statement.

The researchers note that gluten is in many products, but food labels

are often inaccurate and don't mention gluten as an ingredient. "Our results

suggest that recombinant EP-B2 should be effective as supportive therapy to

help celiacs cope with the 'hidden' gluten in everyday life," Khosla said.

This new "two-enzyme cocktail" of EP-B2 and PEP may eventually permit

patients with celiac disease eat a more normal diet.

SOURCE: Chemistry and Biology, June 2006.

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[DrMom]

Nisla,

Thank you for posting this material. I just heard about it last night on TV. Would this be great or what? We could use it as a back up for our "weak moments" when we get glutened.

DrMom

[jerseyangel]

Thanks, Nini--I was also happy to see this in the crawl across the bottom of the screen on CNN last night!

[Guest nini]

it certainly sounds interesting!