From Dr. Elizabeth Yurth:
I had a lot of questions regarding spermidine safety for celiacs. For those concerned about spermidine in celiac, here is what the research supports and why I feel it is safe.
Although it is made from wheat germ and contains a minuscule amount of wheat gluten, thus requiring a warning to celiacs, polyamines are very unique and in fact, may be emerging as useful to treat celiac complications!
Inhibitors of human tissue transglutaminase 2 (tTG-2) have been designed to prevent the conversion of gliadin to deamidated gliadin peptides, which are what possess the enhanced immunogenicity as antigens in Celiac disease and cause the problems associated with gluten intake.. tTG-2 is a multi-functional enzyme that catalyzes the linkage of glutamine and lysine side-chains to modify proteins. The enzyme is known to be associated with the pathogenesis of not only Celiac, but also some cancers and Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s diseases (this is why celiac is associated with other diseases as well!) Therefore, tTG-2 inhibitors are being tested in many of the aforementioned conditions.
Three broad varieties of tTG-2 inhibitors have been well-described so far, namely competitive amine inhibitors, reversible inhibitors, and irreversible inhibitors. Competitive inhibitors compete with other natural amine substrates for tTG-2, thereby making the active enzyme unavailable for transamidating gliadin. These include putrescine, cystamine, spermidine, histamine, and cadaverine. Therefore, the spermidine does not provoke the immune response and may well be protective for celiac.
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