Coeliac disease (CD) is an enteropathy induced in genetically susceptible individuals by gluten components, gliadin, hordein and secalin, polypeptides present in cereals such as wheat, barley and rye, respectively. Although the disease starts as intolerance to gliadins, antibodies to tissue transglutaminase (tTG) in the gut epithelium are characteristic of the disease. Whereas serum utoantibodies against tTG (tTGA) are highly specific for CD, antibodies to gliadin are less informative as they can also be detected in other enteropathies, and even in healthy individuals.However, it was shown recently that antibodies to certain gliadin peptides occur with high specificity in CD patient sera.

Full article PDF