A Comparative Study of Modern and Heirloom Wheat on Indicators of Gastrointestinal Health

Abstract

Wheat consumption has declined amid growing concerns about gluten-sensitivity. To determine if genetic manipulation of wheat contributes to systemic and localized gut inflammation, we compared the effects of the modern variety Gallagher and a blend of two heirloom varieties, Turkey and Kharkof, on measures of gut inflammation, structural characteristics, and barrier integrity under normal and Western diet (WD) conditions in C57BL/6 mice. Indicators of gut inflammation, including lymphocyte infiltration and cytokine expression, were largely unaffected by WD or wheat, although WD elevated interferon-γ (If ng) and heirloom varieties modestly reduced interleukin-17 (Il17) in the context of WD. WD negatively affected jejunal villi structure, while the modern variety improved villi structure in the ileum. Relative mRNA and tight junction proteins and serum lipopolysaccharide binding protein were unaltered by WD or wheat. These findings indicate that the modern variety did not compromise barrier function or contribute to gut inflammation compared to its heirloom predecessor.

Could Global Intensification of Nitrogen Fertilisation Increase Immunogenic Proteins and Favour the Spread of Coeliac Pathology?

“…Most studies have reported that both modern and ancient wheat genotypes have similar concentrations of the pathogenic peptides responsible of inflammatory diseases [115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122], similar quantities of immunostimulatory epitopes [109,115,119,123], similar human T cell immunological responses [124][125][126][127] and similar immunogenic peptide sequences [128]. Some studies have even concluded that old varieties produced larger amounts of peptides containing immunogenic and toxic sequences than modern ones [129] and also that old varieties trigger more inflammatory processes in gut [130]. The current literature does not thus sustain the hypothesis that the shift in wheat genotypes could be a significant potential explanation for the rise in coeliac disease at global scale.…”