Celiac disease

Disease information

Celiac disease (also called gluten-sensitive enteropathy, GSE) is an autoimmune disease that primarily attacks the intestines and results in a wide variety of both gastroenterological and otherwise symptoms. The prevalence of the disease is estimated at to be 1%. Doctors argue it’s because most of the cases go undiagnosed as the symptoms are rather minimal or “atypical” in such instances.

Coeliac disease comes in with a broad spectrum of symptoms. One should always keep an eye on:

• Chronic diarrhea
• Vomiting and abdominal pain
• Weight loss and anemia
• Delayed puberty and osteoporosis (atypical symptoms)

Presence of eczema (dermatitis herpetiformis) in conjunction with abdominal disturbances also warrants a diagnostic roundup.

The disease process begins with the ingestion of gluten and overreaction of body’s immune system to it (in genetically predisposed individuals; those positive for HLA- DQ2 and DQ8). The pathogenic component of gluten, gliadin, is deamidated by tissue transglutaminase (tTG) in the enteric connective tissue. This deamidated gliadin is presented by the antigen presenting cells to lymphocytes. The result is B-lymphocytes activated and production of antibodies against deamidated gliadin peptides (DGP) and those against tTG. Moreover, T lymphocytes release inflammatory cytokines responsible for the overall inflammatory process.