Human Milk Oligosaccharides Induce Gluten Tolerance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Non-coeliac wheat sensitivity poses challenges in diagnosis and management, with current treatments involving a lifelong gluten-free diet, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies and impact quality of life, and there is a need for methods to reduce symptoms and allow consumption of wheat and gluten without adverse effects.
Innovation Solution
The use of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) to induce tolerance to wheat and gluten in individuals with non-coeliac wheat sensitivity, achieved through oral or enteral administration, which increases the abundance of bifidobacteria and improves intestinal barrier function, allowing for reduced or eliminated symptoms upon gluten consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a lifelong gluten-free diet is implemented to manage non-coeliac wheat sensitivity, then symptoms are relieved, but nutritional deficiencies occur and quality of life deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) serve as an intermediary substance that modulates the immune response to gluten. The HMOs do not eliminate gluten from the diet but rather mediate the interaction between gluten and the immune system, allowing gluten consumption while preventing adverse immune reactions. This resolves the contradiction by enabling symptom relief without requiring complete gluten elimination, thereby maintaining nutritional intake.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the immunological parameters of the system by introducing HMOs that alter the immune response profile. Instead of changing the dietary parameter (eliminating gluten), the treatment modifies the immune system's response characteristics through HMO administration, allowing gluten to be present in the diet without triggering symptoms, thus preventing nutritional deficiencies.
2Reliability
If a lifelong gluten-free diet is implemented to manage non-coeliac wheat sensitivity, then symptoms are relieved, but quality of life deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
HMOs act as a mediator that enables coexistence of gluten in the diet with normal immune function. Rather than requiring strict dietary restriction (which complicates daily life), the HMO treatment allows individuals to maintain a more normal diet while still achieving symptom relief, thereby improving quality of life while maintaining therapeutic effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of eliminating the trigger (gluten) to achieve symptom relief, the invention inverts the approach by introducing a protective agent (HMOs) that allows the trigger to remain present. This inversion transforms the problem from dietary restriction to immunological protection, significantly easing the burden on patients' daily lives while maintaining symptom control.
3Quantity of substance
If gluten is consumed by individuals with non-coeliac wheat sensitivity, then nutritional needs are met, but adverse immune responses occur
Solution Approach 1:
HMOs serve as a protective intermediary that blocks or modulates the harmful interaction between gluten and the immune system. By administering HMOs, the system allows gluten to be consumed (maintaining nutritional intake) while the HMOs prevent the formation of adverse immune responses, effectively decoupling the nutritional benefit from the harmful effect.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the potentially harmful presence of gluten in the diet into a beneficial situation by using HMOs to modulate the immune response. What would normally be a harmful trigger becomes a safe component of the diet when HMOs are present, allowing individuals to gain nutritional benefits from gluten-containing foods without experiencing adverse immune responses.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) for use in, a synthetic composition comprising an HMO for use in, and a method for the treatment of, secondary prevention of, and/or induction of tolerance to non-coeliac wheat and/or gluten sensitivity in a human.