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I've been asked for futher comment on how a durum wheat peptide
may treat celiac diseae through a Th1 to Th2 shift in T cell response to
gluten.  Details are too complex to discuss here in detail.  Basically
when a subset of CD4 T cell is presented with an epitope from an
antigen (gliadin), the T cell becomes activated and responds to the
stimulus by becoming either a type 1 or type 2 helper T cell which in
turn releases different subsets of cytokines.  The Th1 path promotes
mucosal tissue destruction in celiac disease while the Th2 path initiates
proliferation of gluten and tTGase antibodies.  Th1 and Th2 cytokines
each have properties which act in a feedback loop to suppress, limit,
and regulate  each other's cytokine secretions, i.e. Th1 cytokines
suppress Th2 cytokine secretion and vice vesa.

Overactivity of either a Th1 or a Th2 response can result in an
autoimmune condition.  Researchers theorize that balancing Th1/Th2
response can ameliorate and control symptoms and disease
progression in at least some autoimmune diseases.  Th2 response can
include the release of IL-10, a cytokine which suppresses inflamation
and promotes antigen tolerance.  Various molecules have been
demonstrated to shift Th1/Th2 response in various autoimmune
disorders.  In the durum wheat study, the presence of the durum
wheat peptide increased IL-10 release and stopped proliferation and
activation of celiac peripheral T cell lymphocytes in a culture of
intestinal T lymphocytes, derived from children with CD, and incubated
with gliadin peptides.  Hence, this durum wheat peptide may be useful
as a celiac disease therapy.  How effective this treatment may be is
unknown at this time.

Below is an example of sodium benzoate being used to shift Th1 to
Th2 response in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis which improved
symptoms and disease progression when fed to the mice orally.  This
suggests that the durum wheat peptide could potentially treat celiac
disease simply administered as an oral supplement.  However, if a
probiotic bacteria could be genetically modified to continuously secrete
a form of this durum wheat peptide in the gut, this could result in
essentially a "cure" for celiac disease if the durum wheat peptide
proves effective.

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Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Feb;87(2):415-23.
A 10-residue peptide from durum wheat promotes a shift from a Th1-
type response toward a Th2-type response in celiac disease.
Silano M, Di Benedetto R, Maialetti F, De Vincenzi A, Calcaterra R,
Trecca A, De Vincenzi M.
Division of Food Science, Human Nutrition and Health, Istituto
Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/2/415

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J Immunol. 2007 Jul 1;179(1):275-83.
Sodium benzoate, a food additive and a metabolite of cinnamon,
modifies T cells at multiple steps and inhibits adoptive transfer of
experimental allergic encephalomyelitis.
Brahmachari S, Pahan K.
Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center,
1735 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/abstract/179/1/275

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