Working on a Cure for Celiac Disease

A gluten free diet is a life long challenge. Granted, that may be an awkward first sentence for an article, but I’m sure you agree with what I’m saying. At first, the switch is hard. No matter what age you begin to live gluten free, there are challenges that come with it. After awhile, things settle down and the gluten free diet is not as challenging as it first was, right?

Not as challenging, perhaps, but still a challenge. We pay much more for our food, and get smaller portions. Dinner parties take extra planning, kids have to constantly bring their own snacks... I’m not trying to depress anyone here :) I have made quite an adventure out of my gluten free life, and I hope you have as well.

It is the very fact of these challenges that keeps driving research. Dr. Alessio Fasano, head of CFCR, calls diet therapy an “incomplete solution”. Many researchers are of the same mindset- that a gluten free diet is not the only answer to Celiac Disease. If you are of the same mindset, then this article should make you smile a little bit :)

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article titled Did You Know ll. In that article I mentioned that there were a lot of different cures in the works for Celiac Disease. Today, I bring you more details about some of those “cures”.

Celiac is a three part disease. To have Celiac Disease, you need a trigger (gluten), a genetic predisposition and a leaky small intestine. Since gluten is so sneaky in the way it digests (even in “healthy” people it does not digest all the way, it gets kicked out of the body), researchers are being even sneakier to find a way around the three factors. Check out what these ninja scientists are working on:

• HLA-DQ2 attaches to gluten peptides that get through the intestinal walls, and sends a danger signal to the body. This works much the same way as when we send up a rescue flare. The immune system coming to the “rescue” causes the negative reactions. Two separate labs, Stanford University and Leiden University are working to stop the attachment from happening, which means the flare never goes up, and the immune system is blissfully unaware. This therapy is still in the lab testing phase at both universities.

• Stanford is also working on a therapy that would stop the chemical reactions that cause HLA-DQ2 attach to gluten peptides in the first place, which would still keep the signal flare from being sent. This therapy is still under study in the lab.

• Enzymes may also hold an answer. Alvine Pharmaceuticals is working to develop an enzyme that will dissolve the gluten peptides before they have a chance to enter the intestines. This therapy is currently in human trials.

• Nexpep, in Australia, is working on a vaccine for Celiac Disease. The vaccine would introduce people to small amounts of gluten and slowly teach the immune system to make friends with it. This therapy is in human trials.

• Chemocentryx is working to block helper T-cells from getting to the intestines. In this case, the immune system will see the signal flare, but be unable to respond. This therapy is in human trials.

• Princess Alexandria Hospital is working on a cure involving hookworm... Yes, hookworms. The idea here is that starting a hookworm infection in the intestines will dampen the immune responses, meaning no Celiac damage. This therapy is currently in human trials.

• The Center for Celiac Research is working on building the immune system of infants. The babies are not exposed to gluten for the first year of life. That way, when they are exposed later their immune systems are a little stronger and the reactions are a bit different. This therapy is in human trials, but it is a long term study. The babies have to grow up in order for CFCR to know what the long term effects of the therapy will be.

• Alba Therapeutics, which was founded by Dr. Fasano from CFCR, is working on Larazotide- a drug which will keep the intestines from being “leaky”. This works by blocking zonulin from opening the junctions in the intestines to let gluten through. This therapy is in human trials.

Which of the “cures” will prove to be the most viable, and how many more options may arise is still unknown. With this much effort going to find a medical cure for Celiac (besides diet, I mean), it is only a matter of time until other treatment options become widely available.