<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I recently obtained copies of the following articles of current interest in
celiac disease treatment news:

Shan, L. et al. Structural basis for gluten intolerance in celiac disease.
Science. (2002) 297: 2275-2279.

Anderson, R. P., Degano, P., Godkin, A. J., Jewell, D. P. & Hill, A. V. In
vivo antigen challenge in celiac disease identifies a single
transglutaminase-modified peptide as the dominant A-gliadin T-cell epitope.
Nature Med. 6, 337-342 (2000).

The amino-acid sequence of the gluten peptide identified as the primary
cause of celiac disease by Chaitan Khosla and his group in the recent
Science magazine article differs from the amino-acid sequence in the gluten
peptide identified by Robert Anderson and his Oxford University group in
their Nature Medicine article.  The two studies differed in the methods
used to identify their respective gluten peptides.

The two groups also differ in their approaches to a celiac disease
treatment.  Khosla's approach to a treatment involves using a bacterial
enzyme to breakdown the gluten peptide into harmless entities.  Anderson's
approach involves producing modified peptides to block the T-cell
recognition sites, much like antihistamines block histamine receptor sites
to prevent allergy symptoms.

http://www.ivillagehealth.com/news/drugs/content/0,13607,412636_542652,00.ht
ml

"The inventors have shown that by modifying the bioactive epitope to
produce a number of similar structures, these modified versions will
compete with the T-cell recognition site and inhibit the immune response
when given with the unmodified, bioactive epitope.

These modified peptides could therefore form the basis of a specific
therapeutic treatment for coeliac disease."

The two research groups will need to resolve the differences in their
studies to be sure the proper gluten epitopes are effectively disabled to
prevent the celiac disease response.


In the meantime, in order to better comprehend the terminology found in
these research articles, I have acquired a thick notebook of articles on
immunology and recent celiac disease research studies.  Most of these
articles I obtained freely from the internet, though I suspect copyright
violations are involved in posting these articles on websites without
obtaining proper permissions.  I will be busy reading over the next few
weeks, trying to become an "expert" on immunology and celiac disease
research.  I will share a list of the articles I have obtained and where I
got them in a future posting.  Here is one very recent and comprehensive
overview of celiac disease I found available on the internet.  Get it while
you can. (You'll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader):

Sollid, LM. Coeliac disease: dissecting a complex inflammatory disorder.
Nature Reviews Immunology. (2002) 2:647-655.

http://www.immunology.no/cd/Sollid_NRI.pdf

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