Giovanna Cirota

Dr. Giovanna Cirota

Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine - DIMES
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

7Years (2020-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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2 September 2020 in Nutrients
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Giovanni MarascoGiovanni Marasco
Giovanni Marasco
GCGiovanna Cirota
Giovanna Cirota
BRBenedetta Rossini
Benedetta Rossini
LLLisa Lungaro
Lisa Lungaro
ABAnna Rita Di Biase
Anna Rita Di Biase
GCGiacomo Caio
Giacomo Caio
To date, the only available treatment for celiac disease (CD) patients is a life-lasting gluten-free diet (GFD). Lack of adherence to the GFD leads to a significant risk of adverse health consequences. Food cross-contamination, nutritional imbalances, and persistent gastrointestinal symptoms are the main concerns related to GFD. Moreover, despite rigid compliance to GFD, patients struggle in achieving a full restoring of the gut microbiota, which plays a role in the nutritive compounds processing, and absorption. Pivotal studies on the supplementation of GFD with probiotics, such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacilli, reported a potential to restore gut microbiota composition and to pre-digest gluten in the intestinal lumen, reducing the inflammation associated with gluten intake, the intestinal permeability, and the cytokine and antibody production. These findings could explain an improvement in symptoms and quality of life in patients treated with GFD and probiotics. On the other hand, the inclusion of prebiotics in GFD could also be easy to administer and cost-effective as an adjunctive treatment for CD, having the power to stimulate the growth of potentially health-promoting bacteria strains. However, evidence regarding the use of prebiotics and probiotics in patients with CD is still insufficient to justify their use in clinical practice.