A basket with many types of bread (Photo: Flickr)
A life without bread, pasta, pizza can be difficult. Becomes even more so since the gluten protein found in many grains that causes an adverse reaction in people with celiac disease, is hidden in many unsuspecting food preparations , from ice cream to sausages, from candies to yogurt. The diagnoses are increasing, and research into the causes, treatment options and technologies that can expand the diet of celiac disease continues to develop apace.
A study just published in the journal Science Translational Medicine , has identified the three most toxic molecules responsible for the disease, which causes problems of assimilation of essential nutrients, weight loss, slow growth in children. The peptides of the gluten, responsible for the immune reaction in celiac patients constitute the starting point to develop a vaccine that is able to desensitize patients to gluten, and then lock the disease before it gets serious damage to the bowel.
The celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that affects a person is calculated on 100/150. It consists of a reaction to gluten in wheat, barley and many other grains, which causes a flattening of the villi lining the intestinal walls, thereby preventing the absorption of essential nutrients and causing multiple problems. The diagnosis of celiac disease, once a hidden and little known disease, are increasing in our country and they just reach 100,000 units, but it is estimated that patients are at least 600,000.
The peptides that most of all trigger the immune reaction are already at the center of an experiment to test whether, somministrandoli in small quantities, are able to desensitize patients against the gluten. "The discovery is important - ANSA said Italo De Vitis, director of the Unit of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at the Catholic University of Rome - because it could provide a cure for 90-95% of celiac and ensure control early of this disease before it causes damage to the body without having to give up the grain in the diet. "
Pending that experimentation gives the first results, however, there are probably other ways to make sure that people with celiac disease should no longer dispense with all cereals. Seem to suggest it several studies that have addressed the problem from the aspect of biotechnology: production of food. The celiac have available a range of gluten-free foods to choose from that you do every day wider. The taste and texture of bread and other leavened products gluten-free, though, it's rare to hear rave reviews. Gluten is basically the filler par excellence (why is everywhere) and its absence is felt in terms of consistency both in terms of flavor.
And if you could make bread and pizza fit for consumption by celiac, but also from a dough containing wheat flour? Maybe soon you can with a return to natural yeasts , formerly used for the preparation of bakery products and then gradually replaced, for reasons of convenience and cost, by yeast and yeast chemicals. And 'the action of lactic acid bacteria contained in the natural yeasts to be the key to the production of gluten-free bread instead of flour that contain it.
In particular, four lactic acid bacteria have been shown to degrade toxic molecules responsible for immune response. The gluten does not disappear completely from mixing made from wheat flour and yeast containing the bacteria in question, but by changing the number of bacteria to other 6 strains has reached a level of degradation which leads the gluten content of the dough final under 10 ppm (parts per million). A success, since a product to be defined as "gluten-free" must have a quantity of less than 20 ppm.
It will take time because research finds application in industrial preparations, so for now coeliacs must continue to receive supplies while keeping the symbol of the crossed-oar, which identifies the gluten-free products and consulting the handbook developed by the Celiac Disease .
