Wheat diet may exacerbate multiple sclerosis severity, research finds - Jan 2024
by Natkritta Hüppe, Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
medicalxpress.com/news/2024...
Highlights:
A research team at the University Medical Center Mainz has discovered that a diet containing wheat can increase the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS). This is due to the amylase trypsin inhibitors (ATI), natural proteins in wheat, while the gluten proteins did not influence the inflammatory reaction.
The studies confirm that diet and gut health can influence the course of chronic inflammatory diseases, including MS. What is special, is that a specific food, in this case, a defined ingredient, can promote this inflammation.
Until now, however, there was no clear evidence that a wheat-containing diet can also influence inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. We have now been able to show, both in an animal model and in a clinical pilot study, that the ATI proteins in wheat can enhance the severity of MS. These ATI proteins play a broader role in inflammation than the gluten proteins."
Amylase trypsin inhibitors (ATI) are natural proteins found in cereals such as wheat, barley and rye. The ATI proteins are hardly digested and cause mild inflammatory reactions in the intestine. However, they do not only act in the intestine: Inflammatory cells and soluble inflammatory mediators activated by ATI can also be transported from the intestine to other parts of the body through the bloodstream.
As the scientists have discovered, the ATI proteins promote existing inflammatory processes in organs such as the liver or lungs and, what's new, even in the central nervous system. As a result, the ATI proteins can exacerbate the symptoms of MS.
The research team was then able to confirm the results from the animal model in a clinical pilot study. Patients with moderately severe, mildly active MS took part in this study. One study group followed a wheat-reduced diet for three months, while the other group continued their wheat-containing diet.
After the three months, the groups switched to the other diet for a further three months. The MS patients reported significantly less pain during the wheat-free diet. Fewer inflammatory immune cells were also measured in their blood.
On a Related Note:
Sourdough Fermentation Degrades Wheat Alpha-Amylase/Trypsin Inhibitor (ATI) and Reduces Pro-Inflammatory Activity July 2020
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
“The ingestion of gluten-containing foods can cause wheat-related disorders in up to 15% of wheat consuming populations. Besides the role of gluten, α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors (ATI) have recently been identified as inducers of an innate immune response via toll-like receptor 4 in celiac disease and non-celiac wheat sensitivity. ATI are involved in plant self-defense against insects and possibly in grain development. Notably, they are largely resistant to gastrointestinal proteases and heat, and their inflammatory activity affects not only the intestine, but also peripheral organs.”
“In conclusion, this work provided fundamental knowledge on the fate of pro-inflammatory wheat ATI in different strategies of bread-making. ATI tetramers were disassembled/degraded and showed a significantly lower pro-inflammatory bioactivity after sourdough fermentation. Sourdough was the main leavening agent for bread production until the late 19th century. The introduction of baker’s yeast in 1871 resulted in a gradual replacement of sourdough fermentation by a straight, short-term dough processes. The use of sourdough in bread production has increased again in the past decade, owing to the superior organoleptic properties of sourdough bread; this study, apart from prior studies related to the degradation of FODMAPs during sourdough fermentation [47], suggested that the product development strategy using sourdough fermentation may benefit the community by reducing the severity of inflammatory non-celiac wheat sensitivity.”
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