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PAGEpress, Reumatismo, 4(72), p. 213-217, 2021

DOI: 10.4081/reumatismo.2020.1296

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Efficacy of gluten-free diet in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Journal article published in 2021 by V. Bruzzese ORCID, P. Scolieri ORCID, J. Pepe ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Recent research has increasingly shown that depending on the foods we eat, gut flora may be affected by an inflammatory or anti-inflammatory response, thus playing an important role in inflammatory autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or gastroenterological disorders. Gluten seems to be a glycoprotein with a clinically relevant inflammatory effect. Several observational studies and anecdotal cases reported a correlation between gluten and various diseases, including autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. This study aimed to evaluate whether gluten-free diet could be effective in controlling inflammation and ongoing rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. We report 4 cases of patients with long-standing rheumatoid arthritis with no response to several conventional and biotechnological drugs, treated with a gluten-free diet concurrently with the drug therapy. Our patients presented different degrees of response to the diet, in terms of disease remission and improvement of symptoms. Our cases confirm that a gluten-free diet may improve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, even in patients resistant to conventional drug therapies.