The high incidence of coeliac disease in the population has generated growing interest within the scientific community to investigate all aspects related to this disease. In the last ten years valuable progress has been made as to gluten detection techniques, diagnostic techniques for the disease, mechanisms involved and possible therapies. A list of the most representative scientific articles is shown below.

Gluten detection techniques

• A monoclonal antibody recognises repetitive fragments of gliadins that are potentially toxic for coeliac patients (Osman A., Méndez E. et al.).

• An innovative method for the determination of small amounts of gluten in foods by using the ELISA technique (Valdés I., García E., Llorente M. and Méndez E.)

• Report on the inter-comparative study of evaluation of the R5-ELISA Sandwich method for the determination of gliadins in gluten-free foods (Méndez E., Vela C., Immer U. and Janssen F. W.).

• Development of a new procedure for the total extraction of gliadins in heat processed foods (García E., Méndez E. et al.).

Tolerable gluten limits

• Review on the amount of tolerable gluten in the diet of patients with coeliac disease or gluten allergy (Hischenhuber C. et al.)

Toxic peptides

• Structural fundaments that condition intolerance to gluten in coeliac disease (Shan L., Khosla C. et al.)

• Oats in the treatment of coeliac disease in children: a controlled study of two years duration and long term clinical follow up (Holm K., Kaukinen K. et al.)

• Note from Dr. Donald D. Kasarda, an investigator from the United States Department of Agriculture, on the toxicity of avenins.

Possible therapies for the treatment of coeliac disease

• Rational design of an enzymatic therapy for the treatment of coeliac disease (Siegel M., Khosla C. et al.)

• Efficient degradation of gluten by means of the use of a new prolylendopeptidase: implications for coeliac disease (Stepniak D., Koning F. et al.)

• Non-toxic antagonists and variants of the immunostimulant epitope p57-73 QE65 derived from alpha gliadin (Anderson RP. et al.)

• Implication of zonulin in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes in mice (Watss T., Fassano A. et al.)