Celiac Disease
Individuals who suffer from the chronic autoimmune condition celiac disease possess serum antibodies to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, causing a wasting away of the small intestine and poor absorption of nutrients. Currently, the only effective treatment is the life-long elimination of gluten from the diet. Antibodies to the enzyme tissue transglutaminase are found in an overwhelming majority of cases, and cross-react to gluten. This reaction occurs almost exclusively in patients with the human leukocyte antigen types HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8. Over 95% of celiac patients carry 1 or 2 of the HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 genes.