Serum Alkylresorcinols as Biomarkers of Dietary Gluten Exposure in Celiac disease

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2017

Background
Therapy for celiac disease (CD) mainly relies on following a gluten-free diet (GFD); however, a serum marker for gluten intake has yet to be established.
Aims
To evaluate the utility of alkylresorcinol concentrations for detecting gluten intake in studies of human and mouse.
Methods
Alkylresorcinol concentrations were compared among treated CD patients (n=34), untreated CD patients (n=36), and controls (n=33). Furthermore, 7 additional CD patients whose serum samples were available at diagnosis and after GFD were evaluated. In mice studies, alkylresorcinol concentrations were compared in the serum of 5 mice fed a regular chow and 10 mice fed lifelong with a gluten-free chow. In addition, the effect of adding gluten on changes of alkylresorcinol concentrations was also evaluated.
Results
Total alkylresorcinol concentrations were significantly lower in treated CD patients (median [IQR], 3 (2–8) nmol/L), compared to untreated CD patients (median [IQR], 32 [11–74] nmol/L; P<.0001) or healthy controls (median [IQR], 54 [23–112] nmol/L; P<.0001). Moreover, alkylresorcinol concentrations in CD patients significantly decreased after introduction of a GFD (median, 34 nmol/L at diagnosis vs. 5 nmol.L after GFD, p=0.02). In the mice, median (IQR) total alkylresorcinol concentrations in serum samples of mice fed lifelong with a gluten-free chow was 1.8 (1.6–2.3) nmol/L, which was further significantly increased to 16 (11–22) nmol/L after 8 days of feeding with the gluten free chow that had gluten added to it. (p=.008).
Conclusion
Serum alkylresorcinol concentrations could be a useful marker for dietary gluten in CD.