Synonyms in a broader sense
Gluten Sensitive Enteropathy, Native Sprue, Gluten IntoleranceAlternative spelling: celiac disease
EpidemiologyFrequency
In Europe, about 1 in 500 inhabitants suffer from coeliac disease. Women are affected more often than men. The disease usually appears for the first time in childhood (=first manifestation); if adults suffer from celiac disease, this usually occurs in the 3rd and 4th decade of life.
The gluten intolerance persists for life, only the so-called transient form of celiac disease in childhood can regress. 10-15% of the relatives of coeliacs suffer from or are also affected by gluten intolerance. Some diseases occur more frequently with gluten intolerance, such as Ulrich Turner syndrome, trisomy 21, diabetes mellitus type I or autoimmune diseases.
Celiac disease is an intolerance reaction of the body to gluten and manifests itself as a disturbance of the digestion (=digestion) and absorption of food components from the small intestine (=duodenum). The disorder of digestion and absorption is collectively referred to as malassimilation. Patients with coeliac disease have a gluten intolerance or hypersensitivity.
Gluten is a cereal protein, an adhesive protein that is found in: If the diseased ingest gluten, they suffer from diarrhea, malabsorption (= disturbed absorption of food components) and weight loss due to damage to the mucous membrane of the small intestine: the mucous membrane of the upper small intestine is reshaped, the small intestinal villi, which are important for the absorption of food components, recede and the depth of the crypts (= tubular depressions in the mucous membrane, located between the villi) increases. On a microscopic level, the altered small intestine now resembles the image of the large intestine (=colon), which is why in coeliac disease one speaks of a colonization of the mucous membrane of the small intestine.
- Wheat
- Barley
- Rye
- Oats
- Spelt or
- Green spelt is included.
CauseEstablishment
Gluten intolerance is a disease in which the immune system produces antibodies (defense substances) against components of the body (= autoimmune antibodies). In the case of celiac disease, antibodies are present against tissue glutaminase, an enzyme (protein) that is a component of many body cells. The reaction of the autoantibodies with gliadin, a component of gluten, causes the activation of the immune system, so that inflammatory cells migrate into the mucous membrane of the small intestine and maintain an inflammatory reaction there. The small intestinal villi, fine protuberances of the small intestinal mucosa, which serve to absorb nutrients from the small intestine, disappear (=atrophy). This means that the absorption of nutrients from the intestine into the blood is no longer possible or severely restricted.
