Beating coeliac disease: when the staff of life becomes a rod for your back

Tuesday, October 28th 2003

In world-leading research, Melbourne scientists are working towards the development of a vaccine to assist millions of people globally who suffer from coeliac disease and are unable to eat food, including bread and pasta, that contains gluten.

Coeliac disease, which affects more than 100,000 Australians, is a permanent intestinal intolerance to dietary gluten. In sufferers, gluten - the protein portion of wheat, rye and barley - inflames and damages the lining of the small intestine, hampering its ability to absorb nutrients and minerals from food.

This poor absorption leads to deficiencies in vitamins, iron, folic acid and calcium. Genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of the disease. A gluten-free diet is the only existing means of combating the disease.

The development of the vaccine is a joint venture involving The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), Melbourne Health (MH) and The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI). The joint venture has the backing of BTG International, a global technology investment and commercialization company that is the licence-holder of the technology.

The joint venture is led by Dr Robert Anderson, the DW Keir Fellow in Clinical Research at RMH and WEHI and a Consultant Physician in the Departments of Gastroenterology and Clinical Immunology at RMH. Dr Anderson is one of the world's leading experts on coeliac disease, and believes that the project will lead to international clinical trials monitored from Melbourne.

If successful, the trials could lead to the development of similar therapies for other autoimmune conditions such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr Anderson cautioned that although the development of the vaccine was important, its success was not guaranteed.

"Even if it is successful, it could be as long as 10 years before a vaccine is widely available," he said.

The breakthrough in finding a potential treatment for coeliac disease by vaccination came from research conducted by Dr Anderson while at Oxford University as a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) post-doctoral Fellow.

With a team of Oxford immunologists and gastroenterologists, he identified the protein components in wheat, barley and rye responsible for this disease, which is thought to affect about one in every hundred people.

Previously, research on coeliac disease had attempted to determine the components of gluten responsible for an immune response in those people with the disease by studying the reaction of individual cells in the intestine.

Dr Anderson found that using blood samples from volunteer coeliacs who had eaten bread (containing gluten) he was able to determine precisely what component of gluten the immune system was reacting to - a finding that has dramatically increased the possibility of discovering a therapeutic vaccine.

Dr Anderson said the pre-clinical trials phase of the project would involve screening every component of gluten to determine the composition of the vaccine.

All media enquires should be directed to:

Mr Rod Jackson-Smith
RMH Media Relations Officer
(+61) 3 9342 7469
Mobile 0417 156 214

Mr Brad Allan
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
WEHI Community Relations Manager
Phone: (+61) 3 9345 2345
Mobile: 0403 036 116
email: allan@wehi.edu.au

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