According to the Canadian Celiac Association, around 355,000 Canadians suffer from celiac disease and roughly 2.5 million are affected by gluten sensitivities, with those numbers continually growing.
Since such a significant number of people are adversely affected by gluten, various kinds of research are being conducted to improve the diagnosis of gluten-related disorders and the quality of life for people who suffer from them.
The recipe for research
Mark Johnson, a member of the Canadian Celiac Association’s board of directors, explained the “lion’s share” of research currently being conducted on gluten-related disorders is about celiac disease.
Johnson said when a person with celiac disease eats gluten, the immune system damages the absorptive lining of the small intestines, which results in a myriad of health issues if untreated.
“Most of the science is being done in the United States, some in Canada, some in Australia,” he said. “Gluten-related disorders seem to be more common in Europe, especially in Finland and Italy. As a result, a lot of research is being conducted there, as well.”
He said many scientists are looking at ways to train the immune system to ignore gluten, to prevent damage to parts of the small intestine.
Addressing cross contamination
Johnson said other researchers are working on the development of orally-consumed enzymes “that render gluten inoffensive, or mostly inoffensive. They would be specially designed to destroy the characteristic in gluten that activates the autoimmune response.”
While Johnson said these enzymes wouldn’t be strong enough to allow someone to eat at a restaurant like McDonald’s, he explained they would be used as a precautionary method against cross-contamination.
“They would take these enzymes and they would mitigate any damage if they accidentally ingested a small amount of gluten. We’re hoping that they will be available within the next five to 10 years,” he said.
Making the intolerable tolerable?
Johnson added there has been a vaccine in the works, primarily in Australia, intended “to induce tolerance in someone with celiac disease.”
According to Johnson, this vaccine would involve taking an injection every couple of months. It would theoretically “allow the body to tolerate gluten without the autoimmune system damaging the body.”
“The vaccine is in the trial stages, but the trials are quite promising,” he said.
While the celiac disease-related research currently being conducted is quite extensive, Johnson described gluten sensitivity research is an ongoing process.
“Gluten sensitivity is not fully understood from a scientific perspective. It is very much a work in progress. Scientists are looking at certain diagnostic methods, trying to figure out ways to determine what the nature of gluten sensitivity is.”
