March 9/Sherwood, Oregon/Food Consumer -- Once celiac disease develops, the only known way to prevent ongoing damage to the small intestine is by following a strict gluten-free diet. Prevention would be a far better option, but it has conventionally been said that there is no way to prevent celiac disease from occurring.

Now, researchers may have uncovered a promising strategy that, for the first time, appears to cause celiac disease progression to reverse. That strategy is consuming probiotics.

Using a mouse model for celiac disease to investigate the influence of probiotics, taken orally, on disease development, researchers revealed that when mice were fed the probiotic strain Saccharomyces boulardii KK1, the pathological changes associated with celiac disease progression began to reverse. Researchers stated in the journal Laboratory Investigation, "The selected probiotic treatment reversing disease development will allow the study of the role of probiotics as a new therapeutic approach of CD [celiac disease]."

It is already known that gut microflora play a critical role at the onset of celiac disease, and past research has shown probiotics may help heal intestinal barrier function in people with celiac disease, as well as alleviate the severity of the condition by influencing inflammation to varying degrees. It is also possible that the millions of people who suffer from "out of intestine" varieties of celiac disease or wheat intolerance, which can express itself in over 125 health conditions, may benefit from supporting their microflora with a regular supply of friendly bacteria.

 From the March 9, 2012, Prepared Foods' Daily News.