The safety of oats for people with coeliac disease is controversial. Australia and New Zealand exclude oats from the gluten-free diet due to safety concerns, but many other countries do not. Oat is a nutritious grain that is high in fibre and may have a range of health benefits, but it is important to determine if they can be safely consumed by people with coeliac disease.

We have shown that almost 10 per cent of people with coeliac disease have T cells that are triggered by oats to promote an inflammatory response, potentially putting them at risk of harm. This study aims to definitively determine if oats are safe to consume in coeliac disease, if safety can be determined by an immune blood test or food test, and whether a specific type or dose of oats is necessary for safe consumption.

This study will involve the consumption of contamination-free oats or oat protein, immune blood tests and for some, gastroscopy and biopsy of the small bowel.

The gluten-free diet is the main treatment for coeliac disease, yet many patients continue to have intestinal damage or experience symptoms despite many years on the diet. Ongoing intestinal damage is concerning as it is associated with a higher rate of complications such as osteoporosis, infections, refractory coeliac disease and cancers such as lymphoma.

This project is investigating the reasons why the gluten-free diet fails in some patients despite their best attempts to exclude gluten. While it is assumed that low amounts of inadvertent gluten exposure is responsible for dietary failure, the actual causes for this have not been systematically addressed. This study is exploring the role of gluten contamination in commercial gluten-free foods and gluten-free products sold in food outlets, examining food handling, labelling and testing practices in industry, and looking at patient factors that contribute to knowledge and compliance to the diet.

The findings will inform targeted strategies to improve gluten-free diet outcomes for people with coeliac disease. 

The spleen plays a crucial role in antibody generation and defense from infections.

In people with coeliac disease, spleen function can be impaired (‘hyposplenism’), but the size of this issue is unclear and there is no Australian information. Hyposplenism is associated with higher rates of infections, including serious ones such as pneumococcal pneumonia.

This study is assessing spleen function in people with newly diagnosed and treated coeliac disease to determine how hyposplenism affects immune function, the risk of infections and adequacy of vaccination responses.