Relative Rates of Gluten Digestion by Nine Commercial Dietary Digestive Supplements

Endopeptidases containing supplements may digest gluten and reduce the impact on celiac and gluten-sensitive subjects who inadvertently consume gluten. We investigated the relative rate of disappearance of coeliac relevant epitopes in extracts of nine commercial supplements, using two competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs)—Ridascreen (detects QQPFP, QQQFP, LQPFP, and QLPFP) and Gluten-Tec (detects Glia-α20 and PFRPQQPYPQ). All epitopes are destroyed by cleavage after P and Q amino acids. Rates at pH 3.5 and pH 7.0 were measured. These experiments were designed to measure relative rates of epitope digestion not to mimic in vivo digestion. The supplements were: 1 GluteGuard, 2 GlutenBlock, 3 GliadinX, 4 GlutnGo, 5 GlutenRescue, 6 Eat E-Z Gluten+, 7 Glutenease, 8 Glutezyme, and 9 Gluten Digest. The mean initial rate and half-lives of epitope digestion were deduced and extrapolated to rates at the recommended dose of one supplement in a fasting stomach volume. At pH 7, supplement 1 was the fastest acting of the supplements, with Ridascreen ELISA, more than twice as fast as the next fastest supplements, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Supplements 2, 3, and 4 showed little activity at pH 7.0. Supplement 1 was also the fastest acting at pH 7 with Gluten-Tec ELISA, more than three times the rate for supplements 2 and 3, with supplements 4–9 showing minimal activity. At pH 3.5, supplement 1 acted more than five times as fast as the next fastest supplements, 2 and 3, when measured by Ridascreen, but supplements 2 and 3 were over two times faster than supplement 1 when measured by Gluten-Tec. Supplements 4–9 demonstrated minimal activity at pH 3.5 with either ELISA. Supplement 1 most rapidly digested the key immuno-reactive gluten epitopes identified by the R5 antibody in the Codex-approved competitive Ridascreen ELISA method and associated with the pathology of celiac disease.

Influence of Milk and Food on Fluoride Bioavailability from NaF and Na2FPO 3 in Man

Aqueous solutions of NaF and sodium monofluorophosphate (MFP) were given to fasting young adults in an intra-individual cross-over study. Plasma fluoride (F) levels were measured by use of a F-ion-sensitive electrode, and eight-hour profiles of F concentrations in plasma were determined. F availability and pharmacokinetic data were identical for both substances. Furthermore, the same subjects were given tablets containing 2 mg F, either as NaF or as MFP, under different experimental regimens: (a) on a fasting stomach, (b) together with milk, or (c) together with breakfast and milk. Equal F availabilities were observed for both substances. Plasma peak levels were reduced when the tablets were taken together with food. Intake of milk reduced F availability by 30% compared with the fasting stomach experiment; this effect was abolished when milk was taken as part of the breakfast. It is suggested that formation of Ca salts and entrapment of F in coagulation products of milk are important factors causing reduction of F availability, and that prolonged stay of the chyme after concomitant ingestion of food allows F to become liberated from bound forms and coagulation products by digestion processes.

On the secretory function of the stomach during sleep

To make a more objective judgment about the nature of the fasting stomach contents in normal and pathological conditions of its secretory activity and to exclude numerous unaccountable factors influencing the quantity and quality of the fasting juice, the authors examined the contents of the stomach from 10-11 a.m. to 8-9 a.m. with a thin probe in 91 patients.