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Did you see this article on Dr. Alessio Fasano

Dr. Alessio Fasano from the University of Maryland's Celiac Research Center published a paper in Clinical and Developmental Immunology last month. It focused on a new drug developed by Dr. Fasano that has shown promising results in both animal and human trials.

The new drug, formerly called AT1001 but now renamed Larazotide Acetate, is a zonulin inhibitor. For those who have never heard the word 'zonulin', you might think it's a term from a science fiction movie. But zonulin is the protein that causes the 'gates' or openings between the cells making up the lining of the small intestine<javascript:void(0)> to open and close. These openings are called tight junctions and when zonulin gets excessive, a leaky gut ensues.

Dr. Fasano has made great inroads to prove that a leaky gut is a problem that must be handled with gluten intolerance. The leaky gut perpetuates gluten's negative impact on other parts of the body. It can also initiate autoimmune<javascript:void(0)> disease.

the drug Larazotide Acetate is a zonulin inhibitor. Now that we've reviewed what zonulin does as regards opening the gates, the purpose of inhibiting its action should make sense. How well does it work? In the recent human trials that were double-blind, randomized placebo<javascript:void(0)>-controlled (the best type of study, but I would expect no less from the stellar Dr. Fasano), a gluten exposure created a 70% increase in intestinal<javascript:void(0)> permeability<javascript:void(0)> (leaky gut) in 57% of the placebo group but only 28.6% of the patients receiving the drug (4 out of 14 patients) experienced such increased permeability.

A pro-inflammatory substance known as interferon<javascript:void(0)> gamma was also evaluated. This is manufactured by the body when a specific foreign/toxic agent is recognized by the body's immune system. As expected, levels of interferon gamma increased in 4 out of 7 of the placebo patients (57%) but only 4 out of 14 larazotide patients (28.6%) saw any increase.

The good news is that this drug seems well tolerated and it does reduce the leaky gut response that gluten ingestion normally creates. Further, it also reduces the percentage, by about half, of the production of interferon gamma. These are all excellent results.


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