An interesting article appeared in the Los Angeles Times this week.

Dr Robert Anderson, a gastroenterologist based in Melbourne, Australia, is working on a vaccine or pill to prevent or switch off a person’s reaction to gluten.

Currently there are two types of treatment being developed. One would work alongside a gluten free diet and protect sufferers from the occasional ingestion of gluten. The other would train the immune system to accept gluten and would enable a sufferer to follow a regular diet.

The first system uses enzyme therapy which breaks gluten down into tiny particles and therefore doesn’t cause inflammation of the intestine.

The second system uses immunotherapy and allows patients to eat a regular diet by stopping the immune response in the gut.

Phase 1 of the trials are due to be completed in 2010 and Anderson says that patients would receive a series of injections of the vaccine, followed by occasional maintenance doses.

Are you coeliac sufferer? How would your life be different if you could take a pill before a meal or receive regular shots to stop your reaction to gluten? Is it something you’d do?

Read the full article in the Los Angeles Times.

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