**Celiac Disease: Gluten Peptides Characterization after** *In Vitro* **Digestion**

Barbara Prandi

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/67114

#### **Abstract**

Gluten proteins are characterized by the high glutamine and proline content; thus, dur‐ ing gluten digestion, several resistant peptides are produced. Some of them contain sequences that, in celiac patients, are able to trigger an immunological reaction. The pro‐ lamin fraction of different wheat samples was submitted to *in vitro* digestion, and the peptides generated were analysed using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spec‐ trometry techniques. Several wheat varieties were analysed, showing large differences in the production of immunotoxic peptides on digestion. After simulated gastrointesti‐ nal digestion of wheat, emerged that peptides containing sequences known to elicit the adaptive immune response derived mainly from γ‐gliadin, whereas peptides containing sequences involved in the innate immune response were distributed among α‐gliadin and γ‐gliadin and low‐molecular‐weight glutenins. From the results, no major differ‐ ences due to the different cultivation places were observed. On the other hand, statisti‐ cally significant differences are present among the genotypes tested, especially for the immunogenic peptides. The possible development would be the selection of wheat geno‐ types with reduced amount of immunogenic sequences, to reduce the exposure of people and decrease the risk of new cases of disease.

**Keywords:** *In vitro* digestion, gluten peptides, celiac disease, LC‐MS, wheat protein
