For people with celiac disease, everyday foods such as bread,
pizza crust and muffins are potential enemies. But scientists
anticipate that some day a simple pill could help prevent the
digestive upsets caused by ingesting the gluten in wheat, rye or
barley products. The only current treatment for celiac disease
is a gluten-free diet. A new study, however, offers some
potential for hope. Researchers have re-engineered a naturally
occurring enzyme, kumamolisin-As, to break down gluten in the
stomach into much smaller protein pieces, called peptides. They
say these are less likely to trigger the autoimmune response
that can create a wide range of painful and irritating symptoms.
The re-engineered enzyme, named KumaMax, appears to be highly
effective, at least in a test tube. It dismantled more than 95
percent of a gluten peptide that is thought to cause celiac
disease, according to the study, which was published recently in
the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Ideally, the team
could develop the enzyme