A drug that discontinue down gluten into harmless smaller molecules has shown success in randomized human trials , but even the ship’s company that makes it is concerned aboutexaggerated reportsof how widely it can be used .
The drug , GluteGuard , is already on the market , but only as a “ complemental medicine ” , a family that means it does not require evidence that it in reality works . Moreover , GluteGuard can not exchange a gluten - free dieting for celiacs , for many of whom consumption of gluten can belife - threatening . Nevertheless , GluteGuard ’s makers , Glutagen , arrogate that it can ease the uncomfortableness of those with milder reactions to the protein . Further trials are afoot to find out how in effect it might be , and whether it could be used as a back - up after accidental gluten consumption .
GluteGuard is establish on the enzyme caricain , farm by the papaya plant life . concord to recede professor Hugh Cornell , caricain not only reduces gluten to smaller corpuscle , but further breaks down those products that negatively impact somebody affected by gluten .
Unfortunately , caricain is destroyed by the acidic environment of the abdomen , so GluteGuard utilize an enteric coat that resist acid , while soften open in the alkaline condition experienced in the small intestine , allowing the caricain to do its work .
The ideal anti - gluten discussion would be so effective that it would allow celiacs to eat a normal diet . Cornell does n’t expect GluteGuard to meet that banner . However , Cornell told IFLScience that even hoi polloi who choose gluten - spare foods often get exposed to modest amounts of gluten through fussy - contamination , and a drug that minimize the effect could aid their bodies convalesce .
Cornell has published a double - blind written report in theInternational Journal of Celiac Disease , where 14 celiacs were give GluteGuard , while six others took a placebo daily . Both groups ate a diet containing 1 gram ( 0.035 ounce ) of gluten a sidereal day . ( A single slice of whole wheat berry sugar has almost five times as much ) .
Two - thirds of those accept the placebo experienced symptom so painful they drop out of the program , while only one of those on GluteGuard did likewise . Aprevious studyon people withdermatitis herpetiformis , skin ulcers have by exposure to gluten , saw a standardised dropout charge per unit among those on the placebo , while most give the GluteGuard experienced comparatively mild symptoms .
Despite the small size of the subject , Cornell notes the studies demonstrate GluteGuard make a difference , but does not desire to advance celiacs to imagine the drug he devised can supervene upon a careful diet .
Potentially , a much prominent market for GluteGuard exists among people with what has been called non - celiac gluten sensitiveness ( NCGS ) . Debate rages over whether NCGSeven exists , or if people with sensitiveness to straw or myopic - chain saccharide are being misdiagnosed . Cornell told IFLScience he think NCGS is literal and touch people whose dead body can break down some gluten , but lack the capacity to deal with the quantities encounter in a typical diet .
For those whose NCGS causal agent discomfort , rather than impairment , on encounters with gluten , it might be safe to expend GluteGuard as a reliever for a low - gluten dieting if they find standard bread loaf of bread or pasta plates too tempting . Nevertheless , Glutagen take note that even many people with NCGS ostensibly experience severe consequences , and should use GluteGuard as an assistant , rather than repalcement for , a gluten - free diet . Celiacs are approximate to make up 1 percentage of the universe , while claim for NCGS go as high as 10 per centum , suggesting a much tumid pool of potential donee , if used with care .
