Zonulin - Does It Do A Body Any Good?

[alicewa]

I've heard that zonulin blockers may be an answer to celiacs but I wondered whether this would help restore tolerance to gluten. I've just found out I'm celiac and heard that the celiac reaction cannot occur if zonulin is absent.

On the other hand, would the body suffer if zonulin wasn't being produced. I hear it causes leaky gut

[GlutenDude]

Sounds like your getting some bad info. There is no cure for celiac. Period. Only treatment is no gluten. Period. Sorry but that's just the way it is.

[Skylark]

The zonulin story is really interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think blocking it would reverse the autoimmunity. The autoimmunity is out in the epithelial layer; I think the idea is that zonulin/leaky gut aids development of celiac because gliadin gets to the bloodstream. Once you're celiac, I think the IgA is out in the mucosa and will react with or without zonulin.

[alicewa]

The zonulin story is really interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think blocking it would reverse the autoimmunity. The autoimmunity is out in the epithelial layer; I think the idea is that zonulin/leaky gut aids development of celiac because gliadin gets to the bloodstream. Once you're celiac, I think the IgA is out in the mucosa and will react with or without zonulin.

Didn't Dr Fasano say that zonulin levels were higher in those with celiac? I read about 'zonulin blockers'. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't zonulin the component that breaks gluten down into what the body recognises?

Maybe if I had some idea of what caused celiac I'd be able to discern it better.

[Skylark]

Didn't Dr Fasano say that zonulin levels were higher in those with celiac? I read about 'zonulin blockers'. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't zonulin the component that breaks gluten down into what the body recognises?

Maybe if I had some idea of what caused celiac I'd be able to discern it better.

No. Not even remotely. Zonulin is responsible for regulating the gap junctions between epithelial cells. Fasano thinks zonulin is part of the trigger for autoimmunity becasue having too much zonulin lets things like gliadin peptide across the intestines and into the blood, where they shouldn't be.

I think the zonulin blockers are in phase I clinical trials, which means they're being tested for safety. It's hard to know whether they will ultimately be helpful for celiac. Alba is looking at them for type 1 diabetes as well.