Researchers from China and Pakistan successfully developed new method to treat celiac disease

Lanzhou, The Gulf Observer: An international research team has developed a new method to treat celiac disease, according to Lanzhou University.

The study conducted by Chinese, Pakistani and other overseas researchers has been published in the journal Food Research International.

Aman Khan, leader of the study and a Pakistani postdoctoral fellow at Lanzhou University in northwest China’s Gansu Province, has been engaged in research related to the treatment of celiac disease over these years.

According to Aman, the disease, an immune disorder triggered by gluten ingestion, is quite common in Asian countries including Pakistan, as they eat lots of food made of flour, which contains gluten. He hopes to use his knowledge to help people affected.

Inspired and supported by his advisor, Li Xiangkai, a professor with the environmental microbiology group under Lanzhou University, Aman has been isolating probiotic bacterial strains from Pakistani fermented sourdough bread so as to use them in preventing the occurrences of celiac disease.

According to Aman, the celiac disease treatment idea has been taken from their group previous study. They isolated a probiotic strain from Jiangshui, a traditional Chinese fermented food, which could degrade uric acid and upregulate gut microbiota. They then made yogurt with the strain and conducted a two-month human trial on 120 volunteers with hyperuricemia. Results showed that the Jiangshui-yogurt exhibited high degradation capacity for uric acid.

Guided by his advisor, Aman and team members have successfully isolated probiotic bacterial strains called LZU-GM from Pakistani fermented sourdough bread and finished a series of experiments on mice.

“According to our experiments results and integrative analysis, the isolated LZU-GM provides evidence that it can relieve adverse effect of gluten additive food and balance gut microbiota in mice,” said Aman, added that further clinical trials will be needed to determine the safety and efficacy of probiotics in fermented sourdough bread as a treatment for celiac disease.

Li Xiangkai said that they will make yogurt with GM strain isolated from Pakistani sourdough bread and continue to conduct related experiments in Pakistan. “We are confident that the new solution will be a therapeutic adjunct agent in treating celiac disease,” added Li.