The Sevillian biotechnology company Biomedal, in collaboration with the University of Seville (US), is developing a method of ddetermination of intestinal permeability to food antigens that allows non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of diet-related diseases.
This R&D&i project, co-financed by CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia), aims to facilitate the diagnosis and non-invasive monitoring of various pathologies related to dietsuch as food intolerances and celiac disease, among others. Recently, Biomedal and a team of US researchers have published the first results of this research in the prestigious scientific journal Frontiers in Immunology, which highlight the potential of the new method to improve the monitoring of these digestive diseases.
The project, called GUTBARRIER, aims to develop an advanced test for the determination of intestinal permeability that provides significant advantages with respect to existing methods. It would be a test that measures intestinal permeability by detecting the first biomarker based on food antigens in urine samples. Specifically, it quantifies the peptides gluten derivatives excreted in urine after a specific and controlled intake on an empty stomach.
The method will be developed in a rapid quantitative test strip format to optimize its accessibility and facilitate its use in the greatest number of laboratories and medical centers. Carmen Ronchelresponsible for the Biotechnology sector at CTA, emphasizes that “having clinical tools for the evaluation of intestinal permeability is crucial for clinicians, due to the difficulty of diagnosis and its relationship with various diseases.
According to Ronchel, “the published results, obtained within the framework of the Gutbarrier project, financed by CTA, are a first step in the development of a new method for determining intestinal permeability using immunogenic gluten peptides in urine samples as a marker”.
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The founder and CEO of Biomedal, Ángel Cebolla, points out that “CTA’s incentive work for collaborative projects with the public sector is the most efficient in Andalusia and perhaps in Spain“. “They have been important to lower the risks of the project with financial loans and amplify the potential for success of the project,” explains Cebolla, who maintains that “the existence of CTA is fortunate that we have innovative companies in Andalusia and it is one of “the organizations that should be supported by the regional administration for their impact on the transformation of the Andalusian productive model.”
The importance of evaluating intestinal permeability. Damage and dysregulation of the intestinal epithelial barrier is critical in many gastrointestinal diseases. Therefore, assessment of the state of the intestine through intestinal permeability is necessary. This evaluation allows us to identify the causes of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients without diagnosis. In addition, it is important for the monitoring of numerous gastrointestinal diseases and key for research, which seeks to understand the importance of the intestine in multiple diseases.
Currently, a growing number of people present with gastrointestinal symptoms without a clear diagnosis. It is estimated that between 10% and 15% of the population is diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome when it is not can identify the underlying cause of these symptomswhich are usually recurrent and include both gastrointestinal and systemic manifestations. This lack of diagnostic clarity limits effective treatment options for affected patients.
Recently, discoveries have been made that suggest that a significant percentage of cases of irritable bowel syndrome They could be related to a response to food antigens not mediated by IgE.
In this context, permeability and sensitization to antigenic food proteins could play a key role in these pathologies. This suggests that the evaluation of the intestinal permeability It could be incorporated into tests to characterize the state of the gastrointestinal tract, thus facilitating the identification of the underlying cause of the pathology or the predisposition to develop it. Furthermore, this approach could guide the implementation of therapies for the regeneration of gastrointestinal pathologies, including, in many cases, the simple introduction of an exclusion diet as an intervention.
Furthermore, many chronic gastrointestinal diseases require long-term follow-up, but current diagnostic methods do not allow monitor frequentlyreliable and non-invasive regeneration of the intestinal barrier. To date, there are no satisfactory assays to measure intestinal permeability due to lack of immunogenicity or inadequate size of the substrates used (such as mannitol and lactulose), or reliance on indirect methods using markers of enterocyte status ( occludin, zonulin, etc.) or bacterial components (LPS).
In this project of Biomedal, The possibility of using a common food antigen is explored which, thanks to its relative safety and its ability to be measured in urine after ingestion, would allow the integrity and permeability of the intestinal barrier to be effectively monitored.
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