Fecal Immunogenic Peptide Detection for Celiac Compliance

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods lack an effective and reliable way to monitor compliance with a gluten-free diet in celiac disease patients, particularly for detecting minor dietary transgressions and involuntary gluten exposure, which can lead to persistent symptoms and refractory celiac disease.

Innovation Solution

The use of immunological methods involving antibodies that recognize immunogenic peptides resistant to gastrointestinal digestion, such as the 33-mer peptide from gliadin, for detecting gluten peptides in fecal samples through techniques like ELISAs and immunochromatographic assays, allowing for quantitative and qualitative analysis of gluten intake.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional dietary monitoring methods (patient interviews, dietary records) are used, then compliance assessment is simple and non-invasive, but they lack reliability and cannot detect minor dietary transgressions or involuntary gluten exposure

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereliability of gluten-free diet compliance monitoringVSAvoidcomplexity of monitoring method
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses fecal samples as an intermediary medium to indirectly detect gluten ingestion. Instead of directly measuring gluten in the body or relying on patient reports, the method measures immunogenic gluten peptides excreted in feces, which serve as objective biomarkers of dietary compliance and refractory celiac disease status

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces subjective patient reporting systems with objective immunological measurement systems. By substituting patient interviews and dietary records with laboratory-based ELISA or immunochromatographic assays that detect specific gluten peptides in feces, the method eliminates human error, bias, and inability to detect minor exposures

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Measurement precision

If intestinal biopsies are performed to detect dietary transgressions, then diagnostic accuracy is high, but the procedure is invasive and requires anesthesia with potential complications

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of dietary transgression detectionVSAvoidinvasiveness and procedural risks
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the diagnostic function from the invasive intestinal biopsy procedure and relocates it to a non-invasive fecal sample analysis. By measuring immunogenic gluten peptides in easily collected feces rather than performing surgical biopsies, the method achieves comparable diagnostic precision without the harmful effects of anesthesia, surgery, and procedural complications

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses fecal immunogenic gluten peptides as an intermediary biomarker that reflects intestinal status without requiring direct intestinal sampling. These peptides serve as a surrogate marker that can be measured in accessible fecal samples, providing the same diagnostic information as biopsies but through a non-invasive route

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If strict gluten-free diet compliance is monitored to prevent cumulative damage, then patient health outcomes improve, but current methods cannot reliably detect minor transgressions that lead to refractory celiac disease

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveability to detect minor dietary transgressionsVSAvoiddifficulty of detecting low-level gluten exposure
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The patent targets specific local characteristics of gluten peptides - the immunogenic 33-mer peptide from alpha-gliadin and related sequences - that are resistant to gastrointestinal digestion and remain detectable in feces. By focusing on these specific peptide sequences with known immunogenicity and resistance to proteolysis, the method can detect even minor gluten exposures that would be missed by general gluten detection methods

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the detection parameter from general gluten presence to specific immunogenic peptide levels in feces. By measuring the concentration of deamidated gluten peptides that are resistant to digestion and retain immunogenicity, the method achieves sensitive detection of minor transgressions, with the ability to quantify even low-level exposures that contribute to refractory celiac disease

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This approach provides a sensitive and reliable method to monitor gluten ingestion, enabling early detection of dietary non-compliance and assessing the effectiveness of gluten detoxification therapies, thereby improving patient management and diagnosis of refractory celiac disease.

Implementation Method 1

The use of immunological methods involving antibodies that recognize immunogenic peptides resistant to gastrointestinal digestion, such as the 33-mer peptide from gliadin, for detecting gluten peptides in fecal samples

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectAntibody-antigen recognition:

Implementation Method 2

techniques like ELISAs and immunochromatographic assays, allowing for quantitative and qualitative analysis of gluten intake

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectEnzyme-linked immunosorbent assay:

Implementation Method 3

techniques like ELISAs and immunochromatographic assays, allowing for quantitative and qualitative analysis of gluten intake

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectChromatography: Chromatography

Data Source

PatentEP2660593B1Determination of levels of immunogenic gluten peptides in human samples
Publication Date: 2018.10.31 UNIV DE SEVILLA
  • EP2660593B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1C
  • EP2660593B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2C
  • EP2660593B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3D

AI summary

The present invention relates to the medical/clinical sector and discloses a method for monitoring gluten ingestion by means of the measurement of gluten proteins/peptides in faeces using antibodies to immunogenic peptides resistant to gastrointestinal digestion. The presence or absence of said immunogenic peptides is monitored by means of immunological assays based on antibodies that react with immunogenic gluten peptides that are proteolysis-resistant. Said assays may be quantitative ELISA techniques, or qualitative assays such as rapid immunochromatographic assays, immunoblots, etc.; These measurements could also be used to verify adherence to a gluten-free diet with a view to enhancing diagnosis in cases of refractory or acute symptoms of coeliac disease in cases where a gluten-free diet is allegedly being complied with, or in the clinical investigation of the effectiveness of prolamine detoxification-related enzyme therapies..