Oral proteases are a new approach to managing celiac disease

The development of new enzymes offers more potent therapeutic tools for managing celiac disease, reports the latest issue of Gut.

A life-long but constraining gluten-free diet is the only treatment currently available for celiac disease.

The human gastrointestinal tract does not possess the enzymatic equipment to efficiently cleave the gluten-derived proline-rich peptides.

This drives the abnormal immune intestinal response in patients with celiac disease.

Dr Nadine Cerf-Bensussan and colleagues from France therefore propounded an alternative treatment to the diet.

Exogenous prolylendopeptidases are able to digest ingested gluten

Gut

The team assessed oral therapy by exogenous prolylendopeptidases that are able to digest ingested gluten.

The researchers reviewed recent data on the intestinal transport of gliadin peptides, properties of available enzymes and preliminary clinical assays.

Dr Cerf-Bensussan's team concludes, “Development of new enzymes or enzymatic cocktails offers potentially more potent therapeutic tools.”

“However, these need meticulous evaluation based on clinical, biological and histological criteria.”