One in ten people without coeliac disease or wheat allergy report sensitivity to gluten or wheat

Self-reported gluten/wheat sensitivity is more common in women and people with irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression

BMJ Group

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Around one in ten people worldwide report gastrointestinal and other symptoms such as fatigue and headache after eating foods containing gluten or wheat despite not having a diagnosis of either coeliac disease or wheat allergy, finds a large systematic review and meta-analysis published online in Gut.

These people have a condition known as non-coeliac gluten/wheat sensitivity (NCGWS), which appears to be more common in women and associated with irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression.  

Symptoms of NCGWS tend to improve when gluten or wheat is avoided and recur when foods containing them are returned to the diet. However, in contrast to coeliac disease and wheat allergy, the disease process underpinning NCGWS is unclear and it has no specific associated blood markers, making diagnosis challenging.

Currently NCGWS is diagnosed by excluding coeliac disease and wheat allergy in individuals who report adverse symptoms after eating gluten or wheat, and little is known about the prevalence and presenting clinical features.

To address this, the authors identified all studies published between 2014 and 2024 evaluating the prevalence of self-reported NCGWS in the general population. Twenty five studies including 49,476 participants from 16 countries met the inclusion criteria and these data were extracted for use in their pooled analysis.

The results of this analysis showed the overall prevalence of self-reported NCGWS was 10.3% but that distinct differences in prevalence were evident between individual countries. Prevalence varied from 0.7% in Chile to 23% in the UK and 36% in Saudi Arabia.

The data also revealed that four in ten people reporting NCGWS followed a gluten-free diet to avoid gastrointestinal and other troublesome symptoms, often doing so in the absence of formal medical advice or a diagnosis.

The most common symptoms reported by participants were bloating (71%), abdominal discomfort (46%), abdominal pain (36%) and fatigue (32%). Other symptoms reported included diarrhoea, constipation, headache and joint pain.

In addition, self-reported NCGWS was significantly more common in women and significantly more likely to occur in people reporting anxiety, depression and irritable bowel syndrome.

The authors acknowledge the study had several limitations including its reliance on self-reporting of NCGWS by participants, that some of the authors had contributed to a subset of studies included in the meta-analysis, and that substantial differences in prevalence between the studies included could not be fully explained by regression analyses. They suggest these differences in prevalence could reflect variability in diagnostic criteria and confounding factors or be true differences in prevalence across populations and countries.

Nevertheless, the authors conclude, “Self-reported non-coeliac gluten/wheat sensitivity affects approximately one in ten people worldwide, with a considerable geographical variation and strong association with female sex, psychological distress and irritable bowel syndrome.”

They add that non-coeliac gluten/wheat sensitivity needs to be recognised within the disorders of the gut-brain interaction framework – a neurogastroenterology concept that emphasises the bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain – and symptom-based diagnostic criteria developed “to guide a more tailored management approach focusing on individual symptom patterns and dietary triggers beyond gluten and to reduce unnecessary dietary restriction in this common condition”.

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Journal

Gut

DOI

10.1136/gutjnl-2025-336304 

Method of Research

Systematic review

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Global prevalence of self-reported non-coeliac gluten and wheat sensitivity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Article Publication Date

28-Oct-2025

COI Statement

IA received speaker fees from PrecisionBiotics. DSS receives an educational charitable grant from Dr Schaer. This funding was not involved in this study. Dr Schaer (gluten-free manufacturer) has no input into the research undertaken within the department. The other authors declare no competing interests.

  

Tricky treats: Why pumpkins accumulate pollutants

Kobe University

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The gourd family of plants comprising pumpkins, zucchini, melons, cucumbers and more are known to accumulate high levels of pollutants in their edible parts. Understanding the mechanism behind the pollutant accumulation is crucial to creating safer produce.

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Credit: INUI Hideyuki

Pumpkins, squash, zucchini and their relatives accumulate soil pollutants in their edible parts. A Kobe University team has now identified the cause, making it possible to both make the produce safer and create plants that clean contaminated soil.

The gourd family of plants comprising pumpkins, zucchini, melons, cucumbers and more are known to accumulate high levels of pollutants in their edible parts. Kobe University agricultural scientist INUI Hideyuki says: “The pollutants don’t easily break down and thus pose a health risk to people who eat the fruit. Interestingly, other plants don’t do this and so I became interested in why this happens in this group specifically.”

In previous studies, the Kobe University researcher and his team identified a class of proteins from across the gourd family that bind to the pollutants, thus enabling them to be transported through the plant. Earlier this year they published that the shape of the proteins and their binding affinity to the pollutants influence the accumulation in the aboveground plant parts. “However, these proteins exist in many other plants, and even among the gourds, there are varieties that are more prone to accumulating pollutants than others. We then noticed that in the highly accumulating varieties, there are higher concentrations of the protein in the sap,” says Inui. Thus, his team turned their attention to the secretion of the pollutant-transporting protein into the plant sap.

In the journal Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, the Kobe University team now publish that they could show that the protein variants from the highly accumulating plants are indeed exported into the sap, whereas other variants are retained in the cells. They could also pinpoint that this is likely due to a small difference in the protein’s amino acid sequence that acts as a tag that tells the cell which proteins to retain within. The team proved their point by showing that unrelated tobacco plants in which they introduced the highly accumulating protein versions also exported the protein into the plant sap. Inui explains: “Only secreted proteins can migrate inside the plant and be transported to the aboveground parts. Therefore, this seems to be the distinguishing factor between low-pollution and high-pollution plant varieties.”

Understanding the mechanism behind pollutant accumulation is crucial to creating safer produce. “By controlling the behavior of contaminant-transporting proteins, through genetic modification of their pollutant-binding ability or its excretion into the plant sap, we believe it will be possible to cultivate safe crops that do not accumulate harmful chemicals in their edible parts,” says Inui.

But the Kobe University researcher has a broader vision. He explains: “I started this research because I was looking for plants that can detect and digest pollutants effectively. Therefore, I also envision that we could use the knowledge gained through this work for creating plants that are more effective in absorbing soil pollutants. This could turn into a technology for cleaning contaminated soils.”

This research was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant 23241028) and the Murao Educational Foundation.

Kobe University is a national university with roots dating back to the Kobe Higher Commercial School founded in 1902. It is now one of Japan’s leading comprehensive research universities with over 16,000 students and over 1,700 faculty in 11 faculties and schools and 15 graduate schools. Combining the social and natural sciences to cultivate leaders with an interdisciplinary perspective, Kobe University creates knowledge and fosters innovation to address society’s challenges.

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Journal

Plant Physiology and Biochemistry

DOI

10.1016/j.plaphy.2025.110612 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Extracellular secretion of major latex-like proteins related to the accumulation of the hydrophobic pollutants dieldrin and dioxins in Cucurbita pepo

Article Publication Date

29-Oct-2025

Soil ‘memory’ can help plants respond to drought

University of Nottingham

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New research has found that microbial communities in soil have the capacity to remember and adapt to past environmental events, helping plants to withstand drought stress.

Experts from the University of Nottingham's School of Biosciences in collaboration with scientists from the University of Kansas found that soil microbes carry a long-term memory of past climate, and that this memory can shape how some plants respond to new droughts. The findings have been published today in Nature Microbiology.

Droughts are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, posing major threats to both crops and natural ecosystems. 

In this study, researchers investigated how long-term differences in rainfall shape soil microbes and whether these changes influence how plants respond to future droughts. 

They analysed soils from six prairies in Kansas, USA, that experience very different levels of rainfall and identified specific microbes and microbial genes linked to rainfall history. They then tested how these microbial legacies affected the performance of plants during a controlled drought experiment. They found that microbes from drier soils helped a native prairie grass cope better with drought, but they did not provide the same benefit to maize.

Dr Gabriel Castrillo, the group leader from the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham explains how the results of this study could help develop climate resistant crops in the future: “Soil microbial communities have the capacity to adapt quickly to environmental shifts, and help plants withstand drought stress. Remarkably, these microbial communities can also "remember" past environmental conditions, a phenomenon known as legacy effects or ecological memory. Understanding these microbial legacies could help us design more resilient agricultural systems and protect ecosystems under future climate stress.”

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Journal

Nature Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41564-025-02148-8 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Precipitation legacy effects on soil microbiota facilitate adaptive drought responses in plants

Article Publication Date

30-Oct-2025

Synthetic biology to supercharge photosynthesis in crops

Nanoscale compartments used to target plants’ biggest bottleneck

University of Sydney

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Dr Taylor Szyszka from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology and School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney.

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Credit: Stefanie Zingsheim/University of Sydney

Australian researchers have created tiny compartments to help supercharge photosynthesis, potentially boosting wheat and rice yields while slashing water and nitrogen use.

Researchers from Associate Professor Yu Heng Lau’s group at the University of Sydney and Professor Spencer Whitney’s group at Australian National University have spent five years tackling a fundamental problem: how can we make plants fix carbon more efficiently?

The team engineered nanoscale ‘offices' that can house an enzyme called Rubisco in a confined space, enabling scientists to fine tune compatibility for future use in crops, which should allow them to produce food with fewer resources.

Their research is published in Nature Communications.  

Rubisco is a common enzyme in plants that is essential for ‘fixing’ carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, the chemical process that uses sunlight to make food and energy for plants.

“Despite being one of the most important enzymes on Earth, Rubisco is surprisingly inefficient,” said lead researcher Dr Taylor Szyszka from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology and School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney.

“Rubisco is very slow and can mistakenly react with oxygen instead of CO2 which triggers a whole other process that wastes energy and resources. This mistake is so common that important food crops such as wheat, rice, canola and potatoes have evolved a brute-force solution: mass-produce Rubisco,” she said.

In some leaves, up to 50 percent of the soluble protein is just copies of this one enzyme, representing a huge energy and nitrogen expense for the plant.

“It's a major bottleneck in how efficiently plants can grow,” said Davin Wijaya, a PhD candidate at the Australian National University, who co-led the study.

Some organisms solved this problem millions of years ago. Algae and cyanobacteria house Rubisco in specialised compartments and supply them with concentrated CO2. They’re like tiny home offices that allow the enzyme to work faster and more efficiently, with everything it needs close at hand.

Scientists have been trying for years to install these natural CO2-concentrating systems into crops. But even the simplest of these Rubisco-containing compartments from cyanobacteria, called carboxysomes, are structurally complicated. They need multiple genes working in precise balance and can only house their native Rubisco. 

The Lau and Whitney team took a different approach, using encapsulins. These are simple bacterial protein cages that require just one gene to build. Think of it like Lego blocks that automatically snap into place, rather than assembling complicated flat-pack furniture.

To load Rubisco inside, the researchers added a short ‘address tag’ of 14 amino acids to the enzyme that, like a postcode, directs the enzyme to its destination inside the assembling compartment.

The team tested three Rubisco varieties: one from a plant and two from bacteria. They found that timing matters. For more complex forms of the enzyme, they needed to build Rubisco first, then build the protein shell around it.

“Rubisco didn't assemble properly when trying to do both at once,” Mr Wijaya said.

Dr Szyszka said: “Another cool advantage of our system is that it's modular. Carboxysomes can only package their own Rubisco, whereas our encapsulin system can package any type.

“Most excitingly we found the pores in the encapsulin shell allow for the entry and exit of Rubisco’s substrate and products,” she said.

The researchers emphasise this is just a proof of concept. They need to add the additional components that will give Rubisco the high-performance environment it needs. Early-stage plant experiments are already under way at ANU.

“We know we can produce encapsulins in bacteria or yeast; making them in plants is the next sensible step. Our preliminary results look promising,” Mr Wijaya said.

If successful, crops with this elevated CO2-fixing technology could produce higher yields while using less water and nitrogen fertiliser. These are critical advantages as climate change and population growth put pressure on global food systems.

INTERVIEWS

Dr Taylor Szyszka | taylor.szyszka@sydney.edu.au

Associate Professor Yu Heng Lau | yuheng.lau@sydney.edu.au

Davin Wijaya | davin.wijaya@anu.edu.au

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

University of Sydney

Marcus Strom | marcus.strom@sydney.edu.au marcus.strom@sydney.edu.au| +61 474 269 459

Outside of work hours, please call +61 2 8627 0246 (directs to a mobile number) or email media.office@sydney.edu.au. 

ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology

Mary O’Malley | mary.omalley@mq.edu.au | +61 438 881 124

RESEARCH

Szyszka, T. and Wijaya, D. et al ‘Reprogramming encapsulins into modular carbon-fixing nanocompartments’ (Nature Communications 2025) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65307-9. 

DECLARATION

The authors declare no competing interests. Funding was received from the Australian Research Council.

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-025-65307-9 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Reprogramming encapsulins into modular carbon-fixing nanocompartments

Article Publication Date

30-Oct-2025