The Application of Clinical Genetics (Feb 2021)

The Gluten Gene: Unlocking the Understanding of Gluten Sensitivity and Intolerance

  • Asri N,
  • Rostami-Nejad M,
  • Anderson RP,
  • Rostami K

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 37 – 50

Abstract

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Nastaran Asri,1 Mohammad Rostami-Nejad,2 Robert P Anderson,3 Kamran Rostami4 1Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Wesley Medical Research - The Wesley Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; 4Department of Gastroenterology, MidCentral DHB, Palmerston North, New ZealandCorrespondence: Kamran RostamiDepartment of Gastroenterology, MidCentral DHB, 50 Ruahine Street, Roslyn, Palmerston North, 4442, New ZealandEmail [email protected]: Wheat flour is one of the most important food ingredients containing several essential nutrients including proteins. Gluten is one of the major protein components of wheat consisted of glutenin (encoded on chromosome 1) and gliadin (encoded on chromosome 1 and 6) and there are around hundred genes encoding it in wheat. Gluten proteins have the ability of eliciting the pathogenic immune responses and hypersensitivity reactions in susceptible individuals called “gluten-related disorders (GRDs)”, which include celiac disease (CD), wheat allergy (WA), and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). Currently removing gluten from the diet is the only effective treatment for mentioned GRDs and studies for the appropriate and alternative therapeutic approaches are ongoing. Accordingly, several genetic studies have focused on breeding wheat with low immunological properties through gene editing methods. The present review considers genetic characteristics of gluten protein components, focusing on their role in the incidence of gluten-related diseases, and genetic modifications conducted to produce wheat with less immunological properties.Keywords: gliadin, glutenin, genetic loci, wheat allergy, celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity

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