Bacteria inhibit the toxic effects induced by wheat gliadin

[mle_ii]

Ok, I know, I know, me and my buddies the bacteria again. :)

I knew bacteria can have quite a positive effect on the gut, but this study sure does say a lot about it's effects with regards to Gliadin. And given that I showed no Bifidobacteria upon stool testing sure does make me think.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1842 ... stractPlus
Live probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis bacteria inhibit the toxic effects induced by wheat gliadin in epithelial cell culture.

Wheat gliadin induces severe intestinal symptoms and small-bowel mucosal damage in coeliac disease patients. At present, the only effective treatment for the disease is a strict life-long gluten-free diet. In this study we investigated whether probiotics Lactobacillus fermentum or Bifidobacterium lactis can inhibit the toxic effects of gliadin in intestinal cell culture conditions. The ability of live probiotics to inhibit peptic-tryptic digested gliadin-induced damage to human colon cells Caco-2 was evaluated by measuring epithelial permeability by transepithelial resistance, actin cytoskeleton arrangements by the extent of membrane ruffling and expression of tight junctional protein ZO-1. B. lactis inhibited the gliadin-induced increase dose-dependently in epithelial permeability, higher concentrations completely abolishing the gliadin-induced decrease in transepithelial resistance. The same bacterial strain also inhibited the formation of membrane ruffles in Caco-2 cells induced by gliadin administration. Furthermore, it also protected the tight junctions of Caco-2 cells against the effects of gliadin, as evinced by the pattern of ZO-1 expression. We conclude thus that live B. lactis bacteria can counteract directly the harmful effects exerted by coeliac-toxic gliadin and would clearly warrant further studies of its potential as a novel dietary supplement in the treatment of coeliac disease.

[tex]

Mike,

And as a corollary to that, healthy "normal" gut fauna populations in most individuals in the general population, may be the reason why their celiac, (or gluten-sensitive), genes are never triggered. Or, more likely, why they remain asymptomatic.

I remember reading somewhere today were someone was suggesting a certain probiotic product for celiacs, to cut the risk of reactions to accidental cross-contamination. Was that in the Food Doc's blog, or where did I read that?

Tex

[mle_ii]

Well, I do remember reading that VSL#3 limited the reaction to gluten or made the gluten less toxic. The fooddoc probably mentioned this as well before.

I agree, and wonder if my taking VSL#3 helped me to be able to eat the many foods that I once found problematic. Problem is I've been taking various things at around the same time, but this would definitly be one of the items top on my list.