"Let Food Be Thy Medicine": Gluten and Potential Role in Neurodegeneration

Cells. 2021 Mar 30;10(4):756. doi: 10.3390/cells10040756.

Abstract

Wheat is a most favored staple food worldwide and its major protein is gluten. It is involved in several gluten dependent diseases and lately was suggested to play a role in non-celiac autoimmune diseases. Its involvement in neurodegenerative conditions was recently suggested but no cause-and-effect relationship were established. The present narrative review expands on various aspects of the gluten-gut-brain axes events, mechanisms and pathways that connect wheat and gluten consumption to neurodegenerative disease. Gluten induced dysbiosis, increased intestinal permeabillity, enteric and systemic side effects, cross-reactive antibodies, and the sequence of homologies between brain antigens and gluten are highlighted. This combination may suggest molecular mimicry, alluding to some autoimmune aspects between gluten and neurodegenerative disease. The proverb of Hippocrates coined in 400 BC, "let food be thy medicine," is critically discussed in the frame of gluten and potential neurodegeneration evolvement.

Keywords: BLAST; brain; cross-reactivity; gluten; gut-brain axis; intestine; neurodegeneration; nutrients; sequence homology.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain / pathology
  • Cross Reactions
  • GTP-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / pathology
  • Glutens / adverse effects*
  • Glutens / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Nerve Degeneration / chemically induced*
  • Nerve Degeneration / psychology
  • Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Transglutaminases / metabolism

Substances

  • Glutens
  • Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2
  • Transglutaminases
  • GTP-Binding Proteins