Autoimmune Diseases and Serum Autoantibodies in NCWS and IBS Patients

Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity Clinical Trial

Official title:

Autoimmune Diseases and Serum Autoantibodies in Non-celiac Wheat Sensitivity Patients in Comparison to IBS Patients

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04077840
• Other study ID #: ACPM22
• Status: Completed
• Start date: January 1, 2016
• Est. completion date: October 30, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: April 2020
• Source: University of Palermo
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

In recent years, a new gluten- or wheat-related disease has emerged, a condition labelled "non-celiac gluten sensitivity" (NCGS) or "non-celiac wheat sensitivity" (NCWS). Given the lack of a diagnostic biomarker, NCGS/NCWS mostly remains a diagnosis of exclusion, especially respect to CD and WA, so a confirmatory test is required. The Salerno experts suggested the double-blind, placebo-controlled (DBPC), cross-over, gluten/wheat challenge as the gold standard test to discriminate true NCGS/NCWS patients. There are conflicting data about the real mechanisms which induce symptoms in NCGS/NCWS patients after wheat ingestion. Some Authors suggested a prevalent role for Fermentable Oligosaccharides-Disaccharides-Monosaccharides and Polyols (FODMAPs), rather than gluten in determining the symptoms. Other studies underlined the activation of mechanisms of both innate and acquired immunity in NCWS patients, after wheat ingestion. In the present study, we included a group of consecutive NCWS patients, diagnosed with DBPC wheat challenge, to evaluate a) the frequency of autoimmune diseases, b) the frequency and pattern of serum ANA and other non-organ-specific and/or organ-specific autoantibodies, and c) the possible correlations between autoimmune diseases and serum autoantibodies presence and other NCWS-related disease characteristics, in comparison with age- and sex- matched healthy blood donors and IBS patients unrelated to NCWS.

Description:

In recent years, a new gluten- or wheat-related disease has emerged, a condition labelled "non-celiac gluten sensitivity" (NCGS) or "non-celiac wheat sensitivity" (NCWS). This is very often a self-reported condition, since patients refer to intestinal (mainly irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-like) and/or extra-intestinal symptoms (i.e. fatigue, headache) caused by gluten or wheat ingestion, even though they do not have celiac disease (CD) or wheat allergy (WA). Given the lack of a diagnostic biomarker, NCGS/NCWS mostly remains a diagnosis of exclusion, especially respect to CD and WA, so a confirmatory test is required. The Salerno experts suggested the double-blind, placebo-controlled (DBPC), cross-over, gluten/wheat challenge as the gold standard test to discriminate true NCGS/NCWS patients.

However, there are conflicting data about the real mechanisms which induce symptoms in NCGS/NCWS patients after wheat ingestion. Some Authors suggested a prevalent role for Fermentable Oligosaccharides-Disaccharides-Monosaccharides and Polyols (FODMAPs), rather than gluten in determining the symptoms. Other studies underlined the activation of mechanisms of both innate and acquired immunity in NCWS patients, after wheat ingestion. In line with the evidence of an immunologic activation in NCWS, we showed in a previous study that about one quarter of NCWS patients suffered from associated autoimmune diseases (mainly Hashimoto's thyroiditis), compared with a smaller proportion of a control group including IBS patients (about 3%). Furthermore, we showed that serum samples of NCWS patients tested positive for anti-nuclear (ANA) in more than one third of the cases. However, that study included mainly patients evaluated in a retrospective manner and no other autoantibodies were evaluated apart from ANA.

In the present study, we included a group of consecutive NCWS patients, diagnosed with DBPC wheat challenge, to evaluate a) the frequency of autoimmune diseases, b) the frequency and pattern of serum ANA and other non-organ-specific and/or organ-specific autoantibodies, and c) the possible correlations between autoimmune diseases and serum autoantibodies presence and other NCWS-related disease characteristics, in comparison with age- and sex- matched healthy blood donors and IBS patients unrelated to NCWS.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 58
• Est. completion date: October 30, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: January 1, 2017
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

NCWS

Inclusion criteria:

• resolution of symptoms on a standard elimination diet, without wheat, cow's milk, yeast, and other food(s) causing self-reported symptoms

• symptom reappearance on a DBPC wheat challenge. As in previous studies, a DBPC cow's milk protein challenge and other open food challenges were also performed

• age above 18 years and <65 years

• follow-up duration longer than 12 months after the initial diagnosis

• at least two outpatient visits during the follow-up period.

Exclusion criteria:

• positive serum assays for celiac disease (i.e. anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) IgA and anti-deamidated gliadin peptides (anti-DGP) IgG antibodies)

• presence of intestinal villous atrophy, documented in all the patients carrying the DQ2 and/or the DQ8 HLA haplotypes

• positive IgE-mediated immune-allergy tests to wheat (skin prick tests and/or specific serum IgE detection).

IBS IBS diagnosis had been made in accordance with the Rome IV criteria and none of these patients improved on an elimination diet without wheat, cow's milk, egg, tomato or chocolate.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Autoimmune Diseases
• Hypersensitivity
• Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity
• Non-celiac Wheat Sensitivity

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Italy	Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Palermo	Palermo
Italy	Department of Internal Medicine, Giovanni Paolo II Hospital of Sciacca	Sciacca	Agrigento

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Palermo

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Italy, 

References & Publications (10)

Carroccio A, D'Alcamo A, Cavataio F, Soresi M, Seidita A, Sciumè C, Geraci G, Iacono G, Mansueto P. High Proportions of People With Nonceliac Wheat Sensitivity Have Autoimmune Disease or Antinuclear Antibodies. Gastroenterology. 2015 Sep;149(3):596-603.e1 — View Citation

Carroccio A, Mansueto P, D'Alcamo A, Iacono G. Non-celiac wheat sensitivity as an allergic condition: personal experience and narrative review. Am J Gastroenterol. 2013 Dec;108(12):1845-52; quiz 1853. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2013.353. Epub 2013 Nov 5. Review. — View Citation

Carroccio A, Mansueto P, Iacono G, Soresi M, D'Alcamo A, Cavataio F, Brusca I, Florena AM, Ambrosiano G, Seidita A, Pirrone G, Rini GB. Non-celiac wheat sensitivity diagnosed by double-blind placebo-controlled challenge: exploring a new clinical entity. A — View Citation

Carroccio A, Rini G, Mansueto P. Non-celiac wheat sensitivity is a more appropriate label than non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Gastroenterology. 2014 Jan;146(1):320-1. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.08.061. Epub 2013 Nov 22. — View Citation

Catassi C, Elli L, Bonaz B, Bouma G, Carroccio A, Castillejo G, Cellier C, Cristofori F, de Magistris L, Dolinsek J, Dieterich W, Francavilla R, Hadjivassiliou M, Holtmeier W, Körner U, Leffler DA, Lundin KE, Mazzarella G, Mulder CJ, Pellegrini N, Rostami — View Citation

Di Liberto D, Mansueto P, D'Alcamo A, Lo Pizzo M, Lo Presti E, Geraci G, Fayer F, Guggino G, Iacono G, Dieli F, Carroccio A. Predominance of Type 1 Innate Lymphoid Cells in the Rectal Mucosa of Patients With Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity: Reversal After a — View Citation

Drossman DA. Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: History, Pathophysiology, Clinical Features and Rome IV. Gastroenterology. 2016 Feb 19. pii: S0016-5085(16)00223-7. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.02.032. [Epub ahead of print] — View Citation

Losurdo G, Principi M, Iannone A, Giangaspero A, Piscitelli D, Ierardi E, Di Leo A, Barone M. Predictivity of Autoimmune Stigmata for Gluten Sensitivity in Subjects with Microscopic Enteritis: A Retrospective Study. Nutrients. 2018 Dec 18;10(12). pii: E20 — View Citation

Mansueto P, Seidita A, D'Alcamo A, Carroccio A. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity: literature review. J Am Coll Nutr. 2014;33(1):39-54. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2014.869996. Review. — View Citation

Sapone A, Bai JC, Ciacci C, Dolinsek J, Green PH, Hadjivassiliou M, Kaukinen K, Rostami K, Sanders DS, Schumann M, Ullrich R, Villalta D, Volta U, Catassi C, Fasano A. Spectrum of gluten-related disorders: consensus on new nomenclature and classification. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Frequency of associated autoimmune diseases	The presence of autoimmune disorders both in NCWS and IBS control patients was evaluated by a structured questionnaire and a review of patients' clinical records. The presence of one of the following was looked for in all subjects: connective tissue diseases, autoimmune endocrinological diseases, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, epilepsy with cerebral calcification, unexplained cerebellar ataxia, alopecia, psoriasis, atrophic autoimmune gastritis, and immune anemia, neutropenia, or thrombocytopenia.	22 months
Primary	Serum autoantibodies	The frequency, titers and patterns of serum ANA, antibodies against double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA), extractable nuclear antigen (ENA), islet cells of the pancreas (ICA), parietal cell antibodies (APCA), and, finally, tireoglobulin (anti-TG) and thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) were evaluated by ELISA and Immunofluorescence.	22 months
Primary	Clinical characteristics of NCWS and IBS patients	Frequency of autoimmune diseases and autoantibodies were correlated with the following clinical and laboratory parameters: age at diagnosis, gender, coexistent pathologies, atopic diseases and nickel allergy, anemia, coexistent other food allergies, presence of IBS-like symptoms, functional dyspepsia, and extraintestinal symptoms, BMI, duodenal histology lesions, and DQ2/DQ8 HLA haplotypes.	22 months