New Celiac Disease Treatment Shows Promise

A new drug designed at the Mayo Clinic has shown the potential to be effective in treating celiac disease. The drug, larazotide acetate, is a first-in-class oral peptide. It was also tested at the Mayo Clinic in a randomized placebo-controlled study led by Dr. Joseph Murray. The study’s results were presented at the Digestive Disease Week 2014 event.

“This study is the first large therapeutic trial in celiac disease to meet its primary end point of reducing signs and symptoms, and is the first successful trial of a novel class of agents targeting tight-junction regulation,” wrote the investigators in the study abstract. Murray went on to say that the study’s goal, to reduce GI symptoms in patients through the use of larazotide acetate 0.5 mg three times a day, was met. The treatment reduced the number of symptomatic days by 26 percent.

The study, which comprised over 800 people, was primarily focused on women with an average age of 45, who had been on a gluten-free diet for an average of 5 years.  Nearly  72 percent of those suffering from the disease continue to experience symptoms from exposure to gluten in a variety of places including and outside of food, including medicines and vitamins. “Up to 70 percent of individuals report being exposed to gluten deliberately or inadvertently, which causes not only GI-related symptoms, but also headache and tiredness,” said Murray. “These subjects had been on a gluten-free diet for a median of 5 years, so the disease and its treatment were stable. We wanted a real-life setting to evaluate this drug as an adjunct to a gluten-free diet.”

Researchers believe that up to 7% of the population could have some degree of celiac disease, although only one-third of patients have been diagnosed by a doctor. The disease is triggered when gluten is ingested, and it usually can be treated by having the patient managing a gluten-free diet. This can be difficult, especially when symptoms can still occur with inadvertent exposure to gluten. The exposure to gluten can cause inflammation due to an autoimmune response. The Mayo Clinic’s larazotide acetate drug works by reducing gluten uptake and inhibiting gluten and cytokine induced intestinal permeability and inflammation.