Gluten Intolerance: Is there finally a treatment?

Elafine. This is the name of the protein that researchers are banking on to simplify the lives of the millions of people suffering from celiac disease. Those who are intolerant fail to properly digest the gluten molecule, and the existing residue causes inflammation of the digestive system resulting in abdominal pain, diarrhoea and, eventually, damage to the intestinal walls. To avoid this, they are forced to adopt a very strict diet, avoiding all forms of wheat, oats, or rye. It can be a real headache for both the patients and their families every day.

Fortunately, the research is well underway and results have been extremely promising. A consortium of French, Canadian and Swiss scientists have discovered that elafine, a molecule with anti-inflammatory properties, is much less abundant in those with gluten intolerance than in healthy people. It has thus been found that elafine is directly involved in the process of digestion of gluten and also allows it to be better absorbed. As a result, the intestines are less irritated and the symptoms largely mitigated.

For now, researchers have been able to demonstrate these positive effects on gluten-intolerant mice. And to be sure that elafine reaches the digestive tract, they even came up with the brilliant idea of putting it in a probiotic! It is a strategy that has already been tested on patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and proven to be successful.

Further studies will probably follow to reinforce the benefits of elafine, and possibly find some probiotic strains which are able to naturally produce molecules with similar anti-inflammatory properties.

Maureen Diament