Coeliac disease vaccine hopes
17 October 2002
The identification of protein components responsible for the dietary intolerance of coeliac disease has opened up the possibility of designing a vaccine for coeliac disease.
Speaking at the Australian Gastroenterology Week conference in Adelaide today, Royal Melbourne Hospital Gastroenterologist and principal investigator Dr Robert Anderson said the finding dramatically increased the possibility of developing a therapeutic vaccine for coeliac disease.
UK researchers have confirmed that almost all people with coeliac disease react to a common set of protein sequences in gliadin, part of the gluten protein in wheat, rye and barley.
The researchers, from the University of Oxford, The Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, will now move into the next phase of designing and testing a vaccine.
Coeliac disease affects up to one in 100 people, but because the symptoms (chronic fatigue, abdominal pain and indigestion) are not specific to the disease many people remain undiagnosed.
More than 90 per cent of people diagnosed with coeliac disease have a gene called HLA-DQ2, which is involved in the response of the immune system to gliadin, which is part of the gluten protein, however there are still other environmental factors that need to be present before the disease becomes evident in a person.
Coeliac disease is usually treated by adopting a gluten-free diet. Melbourne dietitian Ms Sue Shepherd said there was no safe amount of gluten for people with coeliac disease and they should avoid even the smallest level of crumb contamination from food containing gluten.
‘Any gluten intake will cause damage in people with coeliac disease, even if there are no obvious symptoms,’ she said.
An accredited dietitian with experience in coeliac disease can advise how to avoid gluten and still have a safe and nutritionally adequate diet.
Last Reviewed: 18 October 2002
