Coeliac-safe wheat A novel wheat to decrease the prevalence and symptoms of coeliac disease
HETTY C. VAN DEN BROECK1*, MARINUS J.M. SMULDERS1, ROB J. HAMER2, LUDOVICUS J.W.J. GILISSEN1, INGRID M. VAN DER MEER1
*Corresponding author
1. Plant Research International, Wageningen UR, P.O. Box 16, Wageningen, 6700 AA, The Netherlands
2. Laboratory of Food Chemistry, Wageningen UR, P.O. Box 8129, Wageningen, 6700 EV, The Netherlands
Abstract
A significant increase has been observed in the prevalence of coeliac disease (CD) during the last decades.Increased consumption of wheat and in particular gluten is considered one of the major causes. CD is a food-related disease caused by certain gluten peptides from wheat, rye, and barley containing T-cell stimulating epitopes. The use ofscreening protocols in wheat breeding detecting the absence of CD-epitopes (e.g. Glia-α9 and Glia-α20) can result in thereduction of CD-epitopes in commercial wheat and wheat based products. This approach will lead to decreased exposure, especially in many CD-patients with silent or latent CD that have not yet been diagnosed. In the long-term, thismay lead to a large-scale reduction of the incidence of CD and a significant improvement of the quality of life of CD-patients.
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