Heads up, gluten-free diet fags:
Common food additive microbial transglutaminase — a bacterial enzyme heavily used in industrial processing of meat, dairy, baked and other food products — (bound to gluten fragments) could in fact be the target of the immune response in celiac disease—and the attack on our own transglutaminase merely a case of mistaken identity. Microbial transglutaminase present in processed foods is therefore a potential environmental cause of celiac disease.
Personally, I think celiac disease will eventually be found to be part of a spectrum of intestinal dysfunction rather than an all-or-nothing disease. Many, many people find relief from gluten-free diets who really don't have officially-defined celiac disease.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-widely-food-additive-celiac-disease.html
Could this widely used food additive cause celiac disease?
January 3, 2019, Frontiers
Myths about gluten are hard to bust. Intolerance, allergy, sensitivity, hypersensitivity. What is what?
Celiac disease is none of these things. It is an autoimmune disorder, where gluten triggers the immune system to attack the gut. It is common, lifelong, and can seriously harm health—but nobody knows for sure what causes it. Now a review in Frontiers in Pediatrics says a common food additive could both cause and trigger these autoimmune attacks, and calls for warnings on food labels pending further tests.
Environment causes celiac disease—but only in susceptible individuals
Gluten-free diets have become popular despite little or no evidence of benefit for most people. But for the 1 in 100 with celiac disease, even a mouthful of bread can trigger an immune response that damages the small intestine, impairing nutrient absorption.
Exactly what causes this autoimmune reaction to gluten—a protein found in wheat, rye and barley—is uncertain. Specific mutations in an important immunity-related gene called HLA-DQ seem to be necessary for developing celiac disease, with one of two HLA-DQ variants present in virtually every sufferer—but insufficient, as these variants are also present in about 30% of the general population.
As a result, myriad environmental factors have proposed to interact with genetic risk to cause celiac disease. These span infections, food and toxins; vaccination, drugs and surgery. Most recently, food additives have been suggested to contribute. Among these, microbial transglutaminase—a bacterial enzyme heavily used in industrial processing of meat, dairy, baked and other food products—has emerged as a likely culprit, according to the new review.
How a food binder could be our undoing
"Microbial transglutaminase can glue together proteins, so it's used to improve food texture, palatability and shelf-life," says co-author Aaron Lerner, visiting professor at the Aesku.Kipp Institute in Germany. "This enzyme functions like the transglutaminase produced by our body, which is known to be the target of autoimmunity in celiac disease."
There is a direct positive correlation between rising use of industrial enzymes in bakery products and rising incidence of celiac disease in the last four decades, according to Lerner and co-author Dr. Matthias Torsten of the Aesku.KIPP Insritute, Germany. But if transglutaminase is produced normally in our tissues—and by our own gut microbes—what difference should a little more in our diet make?
"This is mostly a question of scale," argues Lerner. "Our own transglutaminase has a different structure to the microbial sort, which allows its activity to be tightly controlled. And while the relatively indiscriminate microbial transglutaminase is produced by some of our normal gut fauna, the amount of the enzyme could be significantly increased when this microbial population is altered by factors like infection, antibiotics or stress—or, indeed, through consumption of industrially processed foods."
What links gluten, transglutaminase, HLA-DQ genes and autoimmunity?
Gluten is tough to break down completely. This is useful for helping baked goods to rise and keep their shape, but in celiac sufferers presents a problem.
[Moar at website]
Journal article:
Matthias Torsten et al, Microbial Transglutaminase Is Immunogenic and Potentially Pathogenic in Pediatric Celiac Disease, Frontiers in Pediatrics (2018).
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2018.00389/full