Speaker
Description
A significant, although still undefined, percentage of the general population report problems caused by wheat and/or gluten intake [1]. This could be behind the rapid and progressive increase in the global market of gluten/wheat-free products. Non-celiac wheat sensitivity (NCWS) is a new clinical condition which has recently been added alongside celiac disease (CD) and wheat allergy (WA) to the diseases due to wheat ingestion [1,2]. Unlike these other two well-known conditions, however, NCWS still has no diagnostic biomarker and the variety of symptoms, both intestinal and extra-intestinal, self-reported by the patients often confounds diagnosis [3,4]. Furthermore, the NCWS clinical presentation overlaps with irritable bowel syndrome and/or with food’s hypersensitivity/intolerance, making it difficult to distinguish between these diagnoses [2-4]. In this scenario, it has been hypothesized that patients suffering from NCWS are a heterogeneous group, composed of several subgroups, each characterized by different pathogenesis, clinical history, and, probably, clinical course [4]. Thus, to date, many aspects of NCWS have yet to be clarified and, above all, diagnostic biomarkers need to be found.
