Iranian Researchers Design Nanosensor to Detect Gluten in Food to Help Celiac Patients

In a new research conducted in the biosensor laboratory of the Electrochemistry Institute of the University of Tehran under the supervision of Farnoush Faridbod, an associate professor of the Faculty of Chemistry of University of Tehran, and Sanaz Karamdoust and Sheyda Zoqi, two PhD students, a rapid diagnostic method for determining amount of gluten in bread and flour samples was presented.

“The fluorescence nanosensor designed in this research is made of carbon quantum dots and molecular molding technology in silicate matrix. The nanosensor has fluorescence emission and increases the emission by absorbing gluten in the voids molded on the nanostructure,” Faridbod said.

Faridbod and her colleagues at the Institute of Electrochemistry of the University of Tehran had also previously designed a nanosensor to detect fake saffron by using the same technology.

Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune disease that occurs in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide, but only about 30% are properly diagnosed.

When people with celiac disease eat gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley), their body mounts an immune response that attacks the small intestine. These attacks lead to damage on the villi, small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine, that promote nutrient absorption. When the villi get damaged, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly into the body.

Celiac disease is hereditary, meaning that it runs in families. People with a first-degree relative with celiac disease (parent, child, sibling) have a 1 in 10 risk of developing celiac disease. Celiac disease can develop at any age after people start consuming gluten.

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