Would you like to be kept informed about the latest research on coeliac disease, gluten-free foods and gluten sensitivity? This News section contains the most recent summaries of clinical studies as well as interesting articles in these areas.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of larazotide acetate in protecting against gluten-induced intestinal permeability and gastrointestinal symptom severity in patients with celiac disease.
In patients with treated celiac disease (CD), the ingestion of gluten traces contained in gluten-free (GF) wheat substitutes (eg, GF bread, flour, and pasta) could cause persisting intestinal mucosal damage.
Celiac disease and other disorders related to consuming gluten affect a substantial number of Americans. During the last decade, increased awareness of these conditions have led to higher rates of diagnosis along with a growing number of gluten-free products on grocery shelves and gluten-free offerings in restaurants.
“The world of gluten-free products has really exploded,” says Alessio Fasano, M.D., director of the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research. “Celebrities and self-proclaimed experts are giving a lot of attention to the gluten-free diet. Along with the spotlight on gluten, confusion has also grown about who can safely consume gluten and who cannot,” says Dr. Fasano.
He is one of two leading international experts who offer their latest insights on how to make sense of the changing landscape of celiac disease and matters related to gluten in the Dec. 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine in a review article titled “Celiac Disease.”
This article looked to review the evidence for gluten sensitivity in the absence of celiac disease. Whilst the definition, prevalence, diagnosis and treatment for celiac disease is well established, the number of patients consuming a gluten-free diet seems greatly out of proportion to the projected numbers of patients with celiac disease. With the gluten-free food market continuing to grow and increasing numbers of patients presenting with gluten-related symptoms yet in the absence of diagnostic markers for celiac disease, this poses a clinical dilemma and diagnostic uncertainity for a range of different healthcare professionals including gastroenterologists, GPs and dietitians.
The effect of a gluten-free diet on symptoms related to celiac disease, health care consumption in this patient group and the risk of developing associated immune-mediated diseases has recently been published in a paper in BMC Gastroenterology.
