Lactose Intolerance and Cow's Milk Protein Allergy in Non-celiac Wheat Sensitivity Patients

October 7, 2020 updated by: Pasquale Mansueto, University of Palermo
In the last few years a new clinical entity has emerged which includes patients who consider themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though they do not have celiac disease (CD) or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), although in a recent article, the researchers suggested the term "non-celiac wheat sensitivity" (NCWS), because it is not known to date what component of wheat actually causes the symptoms. The clinical picture of NCWS is characterized by combined gastrointestinal (bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea and/or constipation, nausea, epigastric pain, gastroesophageal reflux, aphthous stomatitis) and extra-intestinal or systemic manifestations (headache, depression, anxiety, 'foggy mind,' tiredness, dermatitis or skin rash, fibromyalgia-like joint/muscle pain, leg or arm numbness, and anemia). Lactose intolerance and cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) are two medical conditions with a very high prevalence in the general population, and there is a large overlap between NCWS symptoms and lactose intolerance and CMPA symptoms. Therefore, the aims of the present study are to investigate 1) the prevalence of positive lactose breath test and DBPC cow's milk protein challenge in NCWS patients with self-reported gastrointestinal symptoms related to milk and/or milk derivates ingestion, 2) the clinical, serological, and histological characteristics of NCWS patients with lactose intolerance and CMPA in comparison to NCWS patients without lactose intolerance and CMPA.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In the last few years, a new clinical entity has emerged which includes patients who consider themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though they do not have celiac disease (CD) or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), although in a recent article, the researchers suggested the term "non-celiac wheat sensitivity" (NCWS), because it is not known to date what component of wheat actually causes the symptoms. Other areas of doubt in NCWS regard its pathogenesis, while some papers reported intestinal immunologic activation, others linked NCWS to the dietary short chain carbohydrate (fermentable oligo-di-monosaccharides and polyols, FODMAPs) load. The researchers recently demonstrated that higher proportions of patients with NCWS develop autoimmune disorders, are antinuclear antibodies (ANA) positive, and show DQ2/DQ8 haplotypes compared with patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), supporting an immunologic involvement in NCWS. The clinical picture of NCWS is characterized by combined gastrointestinal (bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea and/or constipation, nausea, epigastric pain, gastroesophageal reflux, aphthous stomatitis) and extra-intestinal or systemic manifestations (headache, depression, anxiety, 'foggy mind,' tiredness, dermatitis or skin rash, fibromyalgia-like joint/muscle pain, leg or arm numbness, and anemia). Lactose intolerance and cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) are two conditions with a very high prevalence in the general population and there is a large overlap between NCWS and lactose intolerance and CMPA symptoms. Therefore, the aims of the present study are to investigate 1) the prevalence of positive lactose breath test and DBPC cow's milk protein challenge in NCWS patients with self-reported gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms related to milk and/or milk derivates ingestion, 2) the clinical, serological, and histological characteristics of NCWS patients with lactose intolerance and CMPA in comparison to NCWS patients without lactose intolerance and CMPA.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

300

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Italy
      • Palermo, Italy, 90127
        • Internal Medicine Department of the University Hospital of Palermo
    • Agrigento
      • Sciacca, Agrigento, Italy, 92019
        • Internal Medicine Department of the Hospital of Sciacca (Agrigento)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

The researchers prospectively will survey adult patients with functional gastroenterological symptoms (Rome III criteria) and a definitive diagnosis of NCWS, referred at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University Hospital of Palermo, Italy, and at the Department of Internal Medicine of the Hospital of Sciacca, Agrigento, Italy, between January 2017 and January 2019, comparing the characteristics of the ones suffering from lactose intolerance and CMPA with those who do not suffer from lactose intolerance and CMPA.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

All the NCWS patients will meet the recently proposed criteria:

  • negative serum anti-tissue transglutaminase and antiendomysium (EmA) IgA and IgG antibodies
  • absence of intestinal villous atrophy
  • IgE-mediated immunoallergy tests negative to wheat and cow's milk protein (skin prick tests and/or serum specific IgE detection).

Adjunctive criteria adopted in our patients will be:

  • resolution of the gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms on a standard elimination diet, without wheat, cow's milk, egg, tomato, chocolate, or other food(s) causing self-reported symptoms
  • symptom reappearance on double-blind placebo-controlled (DBPC) wheat challenge, performed as described previously.

Exclusion Criteria:

Exclusion criteria will be:

  • age <18 years
  • positive EmA in the culture medium of the duodenal biopsies, even if the villi to crypts ratio in the duodenal mucosa was normal
  • self-exclusion of wheat from the diet and refusal to reintroduce it before entering the study
  • other organic cutaneous and/or gastrointestinal diseases
  • concomitant treatment with steroids and/or antihistamines.

Lactose intolerance and CMPA will be diagnosed, in patients with self-reported gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms related to milk and/or milk derivates ingestion, using lactose breath test and DBPC cow's milk protein challenge, respectively.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Positive lactose breath test and DBPC cow's milk protein challenge in NCWS patients self-reporting symptoms related to milk and/or milk derivates ingestion.
Time Frame: January 2017 to December 2017
Prevalence of positive lactose breath test and DBPC cow's milk protein challenge in NCWS patients with self-reported gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms related to milk and/or milk derivates ingestion.
January 2017 to December 2017

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Lactose intolerance and CMPA in NCWS patients
Time Frame: January 2017 to December 2017
Frequency of lactose intolerance and CMPA in NCWS patients
January 2017 to December 2017

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Palermo

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 29, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 29, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

January 2, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 8, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 7, 2020

Last Verified

October 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ACPM12

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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