Exploring the potential of Lactobacillus rhamnosus as gluten-digesting bacteria

Celiac disease (CeD), a multifactorial disorder, develops when gluten, the toxic environmental inducer, interacts with CeD susceptibility genetic markers, resulting in a chronic enteropathy. Several extra-intestinal complications may also arise in cases of delayed management. There persists a growing demand to develop non-dietary adjuvant therapeutic options that can help relieve symptoms and improve patients' quality of life.

The present study conducted a bioinformatic approach to look into the potential of using Lactobacillus rhamnosus, a well-established probiotic, as gluten-digesting bacteria and provide the basis for future therapeutic developments.

Complete genome assemblies of forty-nine L. rhamnosus strains were subjected to annotation using RAST and a pan genome analysis with BPGA. Genes for peptidases were identified using BlastKOALA and Prokka, followed by domain analysis using the NCBI-CD search tool to screen for gluten-digesting activity.

Genome annotation of all the strains under study highlighted the presence of sixty-one peptidases in L. rhamnosus. Domain analysis further revealed that nine of these peptidases, including aminopeptidase N, neutral endopeptidase, oligoendopeptidase F, dipeptidyl-peptidase 5, proline iminopeptidase, Xaa-Pro dipeptidyl-peptidase, aminopeptidase C, aminopeptidase E, and PII-type proteinase, shared domains with already established gluten-digesting enzymes, suggesting their potential role in degrading toxic gliadin peptides.

The current in silico analysis indicates that this well-known probiotic species, in addition to showcasing a plethora of beneficial properties, may also hold great potential in terms of reducing gluten toxicity. With further studies, L. rhamnosus can prove to be a promising candidate in CeD treatment and management.