GlutN

Contact : Marie-Agnès Peyron  (Equipe Improving)

Background

Wheat products, obtained through gluten, play a key role in our diet. Ingesting gluten, a network of storage proteins, can cause allergies, celiac disease, and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), a condition that is generally self-diagnosed due to the lack of objective clinical testing. This leads to the avoidance of gluten. The merits of this diet are raised for the grain industry and for consumers with NCGS, who are neither celiac nor allergic.

Does the gluten network pose a risk to consumers who are neither allergic nor coeliac ? And if so, how can wheat varietal selection and processes manage it ?

Objective

Wheat is a cereal consumed worldwide and France is the leading European producer. During processing, wheat's storage proteins generate a gluten network. Gluten can cause allergies, celiac disease, and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). NCGS is currently poorly characterized and difficult to diagnose without objective clinical testing. To date, a diet free of foods containing gluten is often adopted by default. The challenge of this project is twofold: i) to shed light on the role of gluten in NCGS (or hypersensitivity) to provide objective information on the risks associated with its consumption and ii) to exploit the genetic diversity of wheat and various breadmaking processes to address it. The scientific strategy is based on the complementarity of multiscale approaches to characterize wheat, gluten, and starch throughout the digestive tract, in vitro and in vivo. One of the identified levers is based on the genetic specificities of wheat (ancient vs. modern) and breadmaking methods using or not using sourdough. The objectives of the project are to identify the mechanisms responsible for hypersensitivity, estimate its prevalence, develop biomarkers to objectify the diagnosis and, if possible, provide specific pain adapted to these patients.

Impacts

All the knowledge generated will enable consumers to adopt an informed diet. It will also enable public authorities to provide sound advice on gluten consumption.