Effects of Ancient Grains-based Diet in a Closed Community

July 9, 2017 updated by: Pasquale Mansueto, University of Palermo
Recently it has been reported that a consistent percentage of the general population consider themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though they do not have celiac disease or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity' (NCGS). In a previous paper the investigators suggested the term 'Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity' (NCWS), since it is not known what component of wheat causes the symptoms in NCGS patients, and the investigators also showed that these patients had a high frequency of coexistent multiple food hypersensitivity. It is also believed that this condition is worldwide increasing, due to the evolution of wheat breeding (i.e. consumption of wheats with high gluten content), and that "ancient" wheat flour varieties are better tolerated by NCWS patients than the "modern" ones. This effect could be related to a lower immunogenic stimulation of the ancient wheat than the modern ones. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of a diet based on ancient grains in a "closed" community (i.e. nuns from enclosed religious order) as regard to 1) main haematochemical parameters and vitamins, 2) intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora), and 3) cytokines production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), before and after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Recently it has been reported that a consistent percentage of the general population consider themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though they do not have celiac disease or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity' (NCGS). In a previous paper the investigators suggested the term 'Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity' (NCWS), since it is not known what component of wheat causes the symptoms in NCGS patients, and the investigators also showed that these patients had a high frequency of coexistent multiple food hypersensitivity. Therefore, NCWS pathogenesis has been attributed to very different mechanisms: innate or adaptive immunity, non IgE-mediated food allergy, amylase/trypsine inhibitors pro-inflammatory effects, incomplete digestion and/or absorption of fermentable oligosaccharides and disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, and, finally, psychological effect. 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 and/or systemic manifestations (headache, depression, anxiety, 'foggy mind,' tiredness, dermatitis or skin rash, fibromyalgia-like joint/muscle pain, leg or arm numbness, and anemia). It is also believed that this condition is worldwide increasing, due to the evolution of wheat breeding (i.e. consumption of wheats with high gluten content), and that "ancient" wheat flour varieties are better tolerated by NCWS patients than the "modern" ones. More in details, it has been demonstrated that in patients with NCWS foods containing modern (i.e. "Manitoba") wheat flour varieties may trigger immunological mechanisms of inflammation (i.e. CXCL10 secretion) and may alter intestinal permeability; on the contrary, these effects was not observed with wheat flour from ancient (i.e. "Kamut" or "Senatore Cappelli") varieties. Therefore, the aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of a diet based on ancient grains (i.e. a mixture of "Tumminia", "Perciasacchi", "Senatore-Cappelli" and "Margherito" grains) in a "closed" community (i.e. nuns from enclosed religious order) as regard to: 1) main haematochemical parameters and vitamins (serum creatinine, serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, hemoglobin, serum iron, serum ferritin, blood glucose, serum sodium, total cholesterol, glycated hemoglobin, vitamin B12, and vitamin D), 2) intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora), and 3) cytokines production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), before and after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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, 90135
        • Congregazione delle Suore Collegine della Santa Famiglia

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

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Nuns from the "Congregazione delle Suore Collegine della Santa Famiglia", Palermo, Italy.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • N/A

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

  • Primary Purpose: OTHER
  • Allocation: NA
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
OTHER: Ancient wheat flours
We prospectively will survey 30 nuns from the "Congregazione delle Suore Collegine della Santa Famiglia", Palermo, Italy. The subjects will be recruited between January 2017 and June 2017 and will be examined before and after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains, undergoing clinical evaluation and blood and feces samples collection. Ancient wheat flours will be administered in open label for 30 days
Other: Ancient wheat flours
Ancient wheat flours will be administered in open label for 30 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Laboratory Values evaluation
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 30 days
Laboratory Values evaluation at baseline and after a 30 days challenge with ancient grains-based diet.
Change from baseline at 30 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora) by feces samples examination
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 30 days
Evaluation of modifications of intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora) by feces samples examination, before and after a 30 days challenge with ancient grains-based diet.
Change from baseline at 30 days
Cytokines production from PBMC
Time Frame: Cytokines production from PBMC after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains
Evaluation of modifications in cytokines production from PBMC, before and after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains.
Cytokines production from PBMC after the diet period (30 days) with ancient grains

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)

March 1, 2017

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

June 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 30, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 12, 2017

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

January 13, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

July 12, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 9, 2017

Last Verified

July 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ACPM19

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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