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Celiac.com 04/22/2024 - Food allergies, especially common in childhood, can pose serious threats to health, sometimes leading to severe or even fatal reactions. However, recent advancements in research conducted at National Jewish Health offer hope for early intervention to prevent the development of such allergies. At National Jewish Health, researchers have pioneered a groundbreaking program focused on preventing food allergies. Their latest breakthrough involves the discovery of early indicators for this condition, which marks a significant stride towards proactive intervention. The research team identified biomarkers associated with both atopic dermatitis and food allergy, particularly abnormal lipids, microbes, and proteins present in the skin. In a recent study published in the March 2024 issue of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, skin tape strips were collected from the forearms of newborns at just two months old, an age when no signs of food allergies are typically present. The innovative skin tape sampling technique, developed by National Jewish Health researchers, is noninvasive and gentle, making it suitable for very young patients. By collecting superficial proteins and lipids from the skin's surface, researchers can analyze them for abnormalities. The children involved in the study were monitored clinically until the age of two to observe if any allergies developed. Dr. Evgeny Berdyshev, a researcher at National Jewish Health and the study's first author, explained that the immune system beneath the skin influences the skin barrier. Through painless skin tape sampling, researchers can detect abnormalities in the proteins present on the skin's surface. Dr. Donald Leung, head of the Division of Pediatric Allergy & Immunology at National Jewish Health and senior author of the study, emphasized the importance of identifying individuals at risk for food allergies and addressing skin barrier abnormalities early to prevent these conditions from developing. Dr. Leung further noted that this research is just the beginning. They are currently conducting studies to determine if they can prevent these abnormalities in newborns by applying a lipid cream to the skin, with the goal of developing an anti-inflammatory cream in the future based on their findings. Read more at medindia.net

Celiac.com 11/26/2020 - For all that recent research has told us about celiac disease, we still don't know whether changes in the intestinal microbiota of children with celiac disease contribute to the disease, or if they are a result of disease and/or its treatment with a gluten-free diet. A team of researchers recently conducted a study to better understand the issue. The research team included Konstantina Zafeiropoulou, Ben Nichols, Mary Mackinder, Olga Biskou, Eleni Rizou, Antonia Karanikolou, Clare Clark, Elaine Buchanan, Tracey Cardigan, Hazel Duncan, David Wands, Julie Russell, Richard Hansen, Richard K. Russell, Paraic McGrogan, Christine A. Edwards, Umer Z. Ijaz, and Konstantinos Gerasimidis. They are variously affiliated with the Human Nutrition, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, New Lister Building, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland; the Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, Scotland, UK; and with the department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. The team assessed fecal samples from 57 healthy children, 20 children with new-onset celiac disease, 45 with celiac disease on a gluten-free diet, and 19 unaffected siblings of children with celiac disease in Glasgow, Scotland. The team used 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing to analyze samples, and gas chromatography to measure diet-related metabolites and looked at fecal samples from 13 children with new-onset celiac disease after 6 and 12 months on a gluten-free diet. They then assessed the connections between diet composition, microbiota, gastrointestinal function, and biomarkers of gluten-free diet compliance. Microbiota diversity was similar among the groups. The team saw no microbial dysbiosis in children with new-onset celiac disease. Most of the variation in microbiota composition was explained by the gluten-free diet. The difference in taxa between the groups was about a 3% to 5%, and celiac disease was marked by a specific microbe signature of eleven distinctive operational taxonomic units with high diagnostic probability. About 75% to 94% of the relevant differences between patients on a gluten-free diet with new-onset celiac disease vs healthy children were associated with nutrients and foods, and with biomarkers of gluten ingestion. Meanwhile, fecal levels of butyrate and ammonia decreased with a gluten-free diet. A number of the differences in the gut microbiota of children with established celiac disease appear to result from a gluten-free diet. Meanwhile, it's clear from the data that specific bacteria serve a distinct biomarkers of celiac disease. Further study will help to determine whether these bacteria contribute to celiac disease development. Read more in Gastroenterology

Celiac.com 12/03/2018 - Biomarkers in blood samples are not effective indicators for diagnosis or monitoring of celiac disease. A team of researchers recently set out to assess biomarkers of celiac disease derived from neoepitopes of deamidated gliadin peptides (DGP) and tTG fragments, and to assess their usefulness in identifying patients with celiac disease with mucosal healing. The research team included RS Choung, SK Rostamkolaei, JM Ju, EV Marietta, CT Van Dyke, JJ Rajasekaran, V Jayaraman, T Wang, K Bei, KE Rajasekaran, K Krishna, HK Krishnamurthy, and JA Murray. They are variously affiliated with the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Vibrant Sciences LLC, San Carlos, CA, USA; and with the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. The team began by analyzing serum samples from 90 patients with biopsy-proven celiac disease, along with 79 healthy control subjects for immune reactivity against the tTG-DGP complex. They used a fluorescent peptide microarray platform to estimate the antibody binding intensity of each synthesized tTG-DGP epitope. They validated results in 82 patients with newly diagnosed celiac disease, and in 217 control subjects. They assessed the ability of the peptide panel to spot patients with mucosal healing based on histologic results and using serum samples from 85 patients with treated and healed celiac disease; 81 patients with treated but unhealed celiac disease who showed villous atrophy despite adhering to a gluten-free diet; 82 patients with untreated celiac disease; 27 disease control subjects who showed villous atrophy without celiac disease; and 217 healthy control subjects. To assess their data, they relied on principal component analysis followed by machine learning and support vector machine modeling. In all, the team found 172 immunogenic epitopes of the tTG-DGP complex. Compared with control subjects, celiac patients showed substantially higher immune reactivity against these epitopes. In the test group, neoepitopes derived from the tTG-DGP complex identified people with celiac disease with a remarkable 99% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Blood samples from untreated celiac patients showed the greatest average antibody-binding intensity against the tTG-DGP complex. Blood from patients with treated but unhealed CeD mucosa (15.1 ± 7.5) showed significantly higher average antibody-binding intensity than blood from patients with treated and healed CeD mucosa (5.5±3.4) (P<.001). The test spotted celiac patients with healing mucosa with 84% sensitivity and 95% specificity. The research team discovered immunogenic epitopes of the tTG-DGP complex, and found that a test that measures immune response to epitopes accurately identified both celiac patients and patients with mucosal healing. From this study, the team concludes that the biomarker method for celiac testing could be useful in both the detection and monitoring of celiac disease. Read more at: Gastroenterology.

Celiac.com 01/26/2017 - The only currently effective therapy for celiac disease is for patients to follow a gluten-free diet. However, no serum marker for gluten intake has yet been found, so it's not always easy for doctors to tell if patients are following their diets properly. A team of researchers recently set out to evaluate the use of alkylresorcinol concentrations for detecting dietary gluten intake in humans and mice. The research team included R. S. Choung, J. A. Murray, E. V. Marietta, C. T. Van Dyke, and A. B. Ross. They are variously affiliated with the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA, and with the Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. For their study, they compared alkylresorcinol concentrations among 34 treated patients with celiac disease, 36 untreated celiac disease patients and 33 control subjects. They also evaluated seven additional celiac disease patients whose serum samples were available at diagnosis and after gluten-free diet. In mice, they compared alkylresorcinol concentrations in the serum of five mice fed a regular chow, and 10 mice fed lifelong with a gluten-free chow. In addition, They also assessed the effect of added gluten on alkylresorcinol concentrations. Their study indicates that serum alkylresorcinol concentrations could be a useful marker for dietary gluten in celiac disease. Certainly, having an easy, reliable way for doctors to spot dietary gluten will be useful in helping people with celiac disease maintain their required gluten-free diets. Source: Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. DOI: 10.1111/apt.13917