Abstract
Recent studies suggested that gliadin proteins from the ancient diploid einkorn wheat Triticum monococcum retained a reduced number of immunogenic peptides for celiac disease patients because of a high in vitro digestibility with respect to hexaploid common wheat. In this study, we compared the immunological properties of gliadins from two Triticum monococcum cultivars (Hammurabi and Norberto-ID331) with those of a Triticum durum cultivar (Adamello). Gliadins were digested by mimicking the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion process that includes the brush border membrane peptidases. Competitive ELISA, based on R5 monoclonal antibody, showed that gastrointestinal digestion reduced the immunogenicity of Triticum monococcum gliadins; conversely, the immunogenic potential of Triticum durum gliadins remained almost unchanged by the in vitro digestion. The immune stimulatory activity was also evaluated by detecting the IFN-γ production in gliadin-reactive T-cell lines obtained from the small intestinal mucosa of HLA-DQ2+ celiac disease patients. Interestingly, gastrointestinal digestion markedly reduced the capability of Triticum monococcum gliadins (p <0.05) of both cultivars to activate T cells, while it slightly affected the activity of Triticum durum. In conclusion, our results showed that Triticum durum was almost unaffected by the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, while Triticum monococcum had a marked sensibility to digestion, thus determining a lower toxicity for celiac disease patients.
Highlights
Wheat is the most consumed crop worldwide because of its nutritional and organoleptic properties and extraordinary versatility in the production of bakery products such as pasta and pizza
The immunogenic properties of gliadins extracted from two T. monococcum cultivars (Norberto-ID331 and Hammurabi) were evaluated in comparison to T. durum (Adamello) gliadins
The GD-brush border membrane (BBM) digestive model was compared to gliadin digested by PC, which is considered the canonical approach for determining the immunogenicity of prolamins in celiac disease (CD) [15, 29, 30]
Summary
Wheat is the most consumed crop worldwide because of its nutritional and organoleptic properties and extraordinary versatility in the production of bakery products such as pasta and pizza. Gluten-related disorders have gradually emerged over the last decades as an epidemiologically relevant phenomenon with estimated growth of global prevalence [3] Among these emerging food disorders, CD is most defined in terms of pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and treatment. The toxicity of wheat proteins was attributed to some gliadin amino acid sequences able to reach intact the gut mucosa because of their high resistance to gastric, pancreatic, and brush border peptidases. These hydrolysisresistant gliadin peptides trigger both adaptive and innate immune response in the gut mucosa that lead to the intestinal villous atrophy in acute CD patients [9,10,11]. Alteration of gut-microbiota composition has been discussed as a further factor associated to CD, since growing evidence supports the hypothesis that intestinal dysbiosis is associated with the regulation of intestinal immune response [14]
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