According to Professor Bob Anderson, head of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, These three components account for the majority of the immune response to gluten that is observed in people with coeliac disease. Three out of four critical peptides for coeliac disease are now revealed in this study So it changes the way that we understand coeliac disease, says Professor Anderson.

He explained that based on these findings a potential therapeutic approach using immunotherapy to expose people with coeliac disease to tiny amounts of the three toxic peptides is being developed. Professor Anderson is the CEO, chief scientist, chief medical officer, director and substantial shareholder of Melbourne-based biotech company Nexpep, which is carrying out trials and helped fund the study. In the next few months early results of the trial should be in he said.

According to Sarah Sleet, Chief Executive of the charity Coeliac UK, a vaccine may also be in the horizon. She said, It's an important piece of the jigsaw but a lot of further work remains so nobody should be expecting a practical solution in their surgery within the next 10 years.

Funding for the research was received from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Coeliac UK, the Coeliac Research Fund, BTG International and the Victorian Government.