Cereal Products as Triggers of Autoimmune Diseases
Wheat Worsens Multiple Sclerosis
A research team at the University Medical Center Mainz has discovered that a wheat-containing diet can promote the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS). This was caused by amylase-trypsin inhibitors (ATI), natural proteins in wheat, while the gluten proteins did not influence the inflammatory reactions. The studies confirm that diet and gut health can influence the course of chronic inflammatory diseases, including MS. However, the special feature is that an essential food and here a defined component can promote this inflammation.The research results were published in the renowned journals “Gut” and “Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders.”The research group now intends to investigate the extent to which a wheat-free diet can improve drug therapies for MS.
The initial investigation by the research team in the animal model revealed that with a diet containing 25 percent wheat, the symptoms of MS worsened significantly compared to the same but wheat-free diet. These results could also be reproduced with a minimal amount of ATI proteins (0.15 percent of the feed weight), but not with a large amount of gluten proteins (5 percent the feed weight).
The research team was then able to confirm the results from the animal model in a clinical pilot study. Patients with moderately severe, low-activity MS participated in this study. One study group adhered to a wheat-reduced diet for three months, while the other group continued their wheat-containing diet. After three months, the groups switched to the respective other diet for another three months. The MS patients reported significantly less pain during the wheat-free diet. Similarly, fewer inflammatory immune cells were measured in their blood.
“Our studies demonstrate the importance of nutrition, its interactions with the gut microbiome, and the intestinal immune system for health. A wheat-free diet can alleviate the severity of MS, as well as other inflammatory diseases. Further studies, which, among other things, combine a wheat-free diet with other medicinal therapies, are planned,” emphasizes Professor Schuppan.
Source:
https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/index.php?id=165&no_cache=1&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5131&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=03a939cb2e9ec1b2cb5e56c02621febc
https://gut.bmj.com/content/73/1/92