Lay summary
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease that occurs in 1/82 Cantabrians - one of the highest rates in the world, making Canterbury an interesting place to study coeliac disease. The coeliac immune reaction is activated when gluten is digested, releasing a cocktail of smaller proteins (peptides). This research will investigate how the microbiome impacts the digestion of gluten and changes the gluten peptide cocktail.
Clinical stool samples will be obtained from an existing fluids library from children with and without coeliac disease, and duodenal samples from gastrointestinal biopsy. First, we will investigate the differences in microbiome composition and function using genomics and metabolomics. Next, we will isolate gluten-degrading bacteria and use mass spectrometry to identify changes in gluten digestion. Research success will improve the diagnosis, management and identify risk factors for coeliac disease, benefitting children, their families and clinicians by providing quantitative disease metrics and fundamental knowledge on disease activation.