Gliadin IgA indicative of Celiac Disease?

[lazydog]

Son has had unexplained nausea, acute abdominal pain, bone pain, breathing difficulties for almost 12 months now.  Having discounted Hashimoto's like mother looked to CD.  His labs came back with high gliadin IgA 48 (<34) but Transglutaminase IgA 10 (<25).  Doc said not Celiac Disease but I got no explanation as to the high Gliadin IgA.  

Could it be he gluten sensitive but not yet has itestinal damage???

[JDLee]

I am gluten intolerant myself.  I think it is a common mistake to view gluten intolerance as an allergy.  It is, instead, a digestive disorder caused by a deficiency in the enzyme needed to properly digest gluten.  When the enzyme is deficient, incomplete digestion of gluten leaves behind a fragment called gliadin.  Gliadin can be viewed as a systemic poison that attacks nearly every system in the body.  It also ties up the immune system, which gets overloaded by responding to the gliadin.  When the immune system is tied up because the gliadin is causing the body to go haywire, the body is susceptible to other problems that it could otherwise keep under control.

For example, I used to have terrible seasonal allergies.  But when I stopped eating gluten, I freed up immune system resources and my allergies virtually disappeared.  Gliadin does not only cause intestinal disorders, it has been linked to a number of neurological disorders as well.  When my mother, who is also gluten intolerant, and was diagnosed with MS at 30, went gluten free, her neurological condition began to improve.  Every six months for the last two years her neurologist has documented improvement.  He was so impressed that he had all of his other MS patients tested for gluten intolerance, found thirty more, and those who have gone gluten free are now improving.

[myproblem]

FYI: If you really need to do the gluten free diet, beware of hidden gluten.

You probably already know:
Barley
Rye
Oats (unless specified Gluten free)
Wheat

You also have to avoid:
Modified Food Starch
Natural Flavors
Monosodium Glutimate (MSG)
Malt
Malt Flavoring

Most major food manufacturers have a GF list on their website.

[PlateletGal]

Your son is lucky to have such caring parents. I have a feeling that you will find your answers very soon.

[lazydog]

Thanks for the tips.  We've started elim of lactose and will do for 2 weeks then we'll elim gluten.
Found him yesterday clutching his stomach again...must be just awful - whatever it is!

[PlateletGal]

I agree with you. I also believe the medical community doesn't know enough about this disease. I heard that physicians' only spend 15 minutes in medical school reviewing this disease and its symptoms.

Also... the blood test you mentioned earlier has to be done when the patient is eating wheat. They did do the blood test on me after I stopped eating wheat but the results were negative. My immunologist told me later that the test results were invalid because I had eliminated wheat from my diet. He knows better because he has a 2 year old son with celiac disease.

Give it two weeks... maybe a little more time, just in case. Health food stores usually sell gluten free products.

Best of luck to you & your family !

[PlateletGal]

P.S. - Be sure to look at all food labels (and I mean all) to make sure there is no wheat/whey or oats in the product. I think I remember a brand of potato chips that listed "whey" as an ingredient... same with soups.

[PlateletGal]

I have a horrible memory... no rye or barley either. Any bread you buy must say, "gluten free". There are several brands of gluten free breads... the rice bread is good.

[lazydog]

Thanks for your reply.  I think you're right and we have to do the elimination diet.  Something's going on and so far have gotten nowhere with blood tests and xrays...  
Still unsure why they bother testing the gliadin though ... if they only going to look at the transglutaminse result.

[PlateletGal]

ANTI - GLIADIN ANTIBODY, IgA : Gliadin IgA is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of Gliadin IgA antibodies in human serum. Detection of these antibodies is an aid in the diagnosis of certain gluten sensitive enteropathies such as celiac disease and herpetiformis. Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity enteropathy is a chronic condition whose main features include inflammation and characteristic histological