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Eleanor Symonds [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Scientists have discovered that a naturally occurring chemical,
> thioredoxin, can neutralize allergenic proteins in foods such as
> milk and wheat. The article mentions that this may help celiacs.
>
> Possible applications are 1) treating the
> food before eating it (sort of like Lactaid or Beano, I guess),
> or 2) inserting thioredoxin-producing genes into the grains.

Donald D. Kasarda, the wheat expert at the USDA wrote the following in
response on the CEL-PRO list. It is being quoted here with his permission:

> Insofar as I understand the thesis being put forward, thioredoxin would be
> irrelevant to celiac disease, although it might have some effect on the
> allergenicity of some proteins.  The proposed action of thioredoxin in
> reducing allergenicity presumably has to do with its ability to reduce
> disulfide bonds.  Because the known toxic peptides in celiac disease have
> no cysteine (the amino acid involved in disulfide bond formation) or any
> other sulfur-containing amino acids, I don't see how thioredoxin would be
> able to neutralize the activity of the toxic peptides in celiac disease.
>
> Furthermore, there is some early work from Holland (van Roon, Haex, and de
> Jong, Gastroenterologia 94:227-235, 1960), in which they concluded that
> disulfide bonds were not involved in the toxicity of gluten peptides in
> celiac disease. Although this early work could be criticized on a number of
> counts in terms of current knowledge and experience, the conclusion  of van
> Roon et al. is apparently correct.
>
> Don Kasarda, Albany, California