<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
David Tanzer wrote:
> What is it about gluten that is toxic to the celiac?  Is
> the problem caused by the body's immune response to fragments
> of the gluten proteins, or is the immune response
> mounted to counteract something else that is bad
> about the gluten (as a whole or in parts)?
 
I'll try to answer this one;
 
Gluten, in itself should not be toxic, otherwise it would be harmful to
everyone. This means that gluten is digestible.
 
It is amazing, but it all depends on the peptide SEQUENCE. Ordered in some
way, a bunch of aminoacids are harmless, but reorganized in another
specific way, these same aminoacids become a toxin (a poison), capable of
killing in seconds.
 
Would the harmless sequence of gluten become dangerous when hydrolized
during digestion?....I would like to know! I don't think so, because it
looks like almost everyone should get sick that way.
 
As you said, it is the immune system itself that causes the problem. For
some reason, the immune system learns to recognize some specific peptide
sequences (hot spots) on the gluten protein, and when this has been stored
in the immune system's memory bank, it is when the disease is initiated.
 
It sounds like Celiac Sprue is like an autoimmune disease...?! it is.
 
If someone could tell us (or me) about the cellular mechanisms by which
the immune system flattens the villi, I would really like to learn that.
Probably most is not known, however.
 
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