Clinical trial NCT03020511: Effects of Ancient Grains-based Diet in a Closed Community
Official title: Effects of Ancient Grains-based Diet in a Closed Community
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Gluten Sensitivity
Keywords: Modern grains
ancient grains
immunologic response
microbiota
Lead sponsor: University of Palermo
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2017-01-13
Enrollment: 30
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Recently it has been reported that a consistent percentage of the general population consider themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though they do not have celiac disease or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity' (NCGS). In a previous paper the investigators suggested the term 'Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity' (NCWS), since it is not known what component of wheat causes the symptoms in NCGS patients, and the investigators also showed that these patients had a high frequency of coexistent multiple food hypersensitivity. It is also believed that this condition is worldwide increasing, due to the evolution of wheat breeding (i.e. consumption of wheats with high gluten content), and that "ancient" wheat flour varieties are better tolerated by NCWS patients than the "modern" ones. This effect could be related to a lower immunogenic stimulation of the ancient wheat than the modern ones. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of a diet based on ancient grains in a "closed" community (i.e. nuns from enclosed religious order) as regard to 1) main haematochemical parameters and vitamins, 2) intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora), and 3) cytokines production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), before and after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains.

Detailed description: Recently it has been reported that a consistent percentage of the general population consider themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though they do not have celiac disease or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity' (NCGS). In a previous paper the investigators suggested the term 'Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity' (NCWS), since it is not known what component of wheat causes the symptoms in NCGS patients, and the investigators also showed that these patients had a high frequency of coexistent multiple food hypersensitivity. Therefore, NCWS pathogenesis has been attributed to very different mechanisms: innate or adaptive immunity, non IgE-mediated food allergy, amylase/trypsine inhibitors pro-inflammatory effects, incomplete digestion and/or absorption of fermentable oligosaccharides and disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, and, finally, psychological effect. The clinical picture of NCWS is characterized by combined gastrointestinal (bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea and/or constipation, nausea, epigastric pain, gastroesophageal reflux, aphthous stomatitis) and extra-intestinal and/or systemic manifestations (headache, depression, anxiety, 'foggy mind,' tiredness, dermatitis or skin rash, fibromyalgia-like joint/muscle pain, leg or arm numbness, and anemia). It is also believed that this condition is worldwide increasing, due to the evolution of wheat breeding (i.e. consumption of wheats with high gluten content), and that "ancient" wheat flour varieties are better tolerated by NCWS patients than the "modern" ones. More in details, it has been demonstrated that in patients with NCWS foods containing modern (i.e. "Manitoba") wheat flour varieties may trigger immunological mechanisms of inflammation (i.e. CXCL10 secretion) and may alter intestinal permeability; on the contrary, these effects was not observed with wheat flour from ancient (i.e. "Kamut" or "Senatore Cappelli") varieties. Therefore, the aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of a diet based on ancient grains (i.e. a mixture of "Tumminia", "Perciasacchi", "Senatore-Cappelli" and "Margherito" grains) in a "closed" community (i.e. nuns from enclosed religious order) as regard to: 1) main haematochemical parameters and vitamins (serum creatinine, serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, hemoglobin, serum iron, serum ferritin, blood glucose, serum sodium, total cholesterol, glycated hemoglobin, vitamin B12, and vitamin D), 2) intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora), and 3) cytokines production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), before and after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Nuns from the "Congregazione delle Suore Collegine della Santa Famiglia", Palermo, Italy.

Exclusion Criteria:

* N/A

Primary outcomes:
measure: Laboratory Values evaluation
timeFrame: Change from baseline at 30 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora) by feces samples examination
timeFrame: Change from baseline at 30 days
measure: Cytokines production from PBMC
timeFrame: Cytokines production from PBMC after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Palermo
country: Italy
facility: Congregazione delle Suore Collegine della Santa Famiglia
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Palermo
name: Antonio Carroccio, PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
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. Am J Gastroenterol. 2012 Dec;107(12):1898-906; quiz 1907. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2012.236. Epub 2012 Jul 24.
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.
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. No abstract available.
citation: Carroccio A, D'Alcamo A, Mansueto P. Nonceliac wheat sensitivity in the context of multiple food hypersensitivity: new data from confocal endomicroscopy. Gastroenterology. 2015 Mar;148(3):666-7. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2014.11.047. Epub 2015 Jan 24. No abstract available.
citation: Carroccio A, Soresi M, D'Alcamo A, Sciume C, Iacono G, Geraci G, Brusca I, Seidita A, Adragna F, Carta M, Mansueto P. Risk of low bone mineral density and low body mass index in patients with non-celiac wheat-sensitivity: a prospective observation study. BMC Med. 2014 Nov 28;12:230. doi: 10.1186/s12916-014-0230-2.
citation: Mansueto P, Seidita A, D'Alcamo A, Carroccio A. Role of FODMAPs in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Nutr Clin Pract. 2015 Oct;30(5):665-82. doi: 10.1177/0884533615569886. Epub 2015 Feb 18.
citation: Valerii MC, Ricci C, Spisni E, Di Silvestro R, De Fazio L, Cavazza E, Lanzini A, Campieri M, Dalpiaz A, Pavan B, Volta U, Dinelli G. Responses of peripheral blood mononucleated cells from non-celiac gluten sensitive patients to various cereal sources. Food Chem. 2015 Jun 1;176:167-74. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.12.061. Epub 2014 Dec 23.