GLIA-A ELISA

Gluten-sensitive enteropathy or celiac disease is characterized by atrophy of the small intestinal villi leading to a so-called flat mucosa. It is caused by a pathological intolerance to Gliadin, the alcohol-soluble fraction of gluten in wheat, rye and barley. As celiac disease is caused by the uptake of gluten, consequently a gluten-free diet cures the disease completely and thus has to be maintained for life-time. Renewed consumption of Gliadin leads to a return of the symptoms. Circulating IgG and IgA antibodies to Gliadin are found in the serum of most but not all celiac disease subjects, though the specificity of these antibodies are significantly lower compared to tTG and EMA. The determination of IgG antibodies to Gliadin (and/or tTG) is especially of high value as approximately 2% - 5% of celiac subjects display an IgA deficiency, thus being missed by IgA subclass tests.