<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I don't think that this article
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15276666
has "set the record straight" Were these people tested for total IgA? If
they are IgA deficient, then the anti-endomysial IgA  could be a false
negative. Why were antigliaden antibodies not tested? A positive
anti-endomysial IgA antibody  tests corresponds to villous atrophy.
According to Dr. Hadjivassiliou, people with neurological disease may not
have villous atrophy.

In the article "Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness" by Dr.
Hadjivassiliou he says " The introduction of more CD specific serological
markers such as anti-endomysium and more recently transglutaminase
antibodies may have helped in diagnosing CD but their sensitivity as markers
of other manifestations of gluten sensitivity (where the bowel is not
affected) is low. This certainly reflects our experience with patients with
gluten sensitivity who present with neurological dysfunction. Endomysium and
transglutaminase antibodies are only positive in the majority but not in all
patients who have an enteropathy. Patients with an enteropathy represent
only a third of patients with neurological manifestations and gluten
sensitivity. Antigliadin antibodies unlike endomysium and transglutaminase
antibodies are not autoantibodies. They are antibodies against the protein
responsible for gluten sensitivity. "

"Only one third of the patients with neurological disorders associated with
gluten sensitivity have villous atrophy on duodenal biopsy. Even some with
biochemical markers of malabsorption such as low serum vitamin B12, low red
cell folate, or vitamin D concentrations had normal conventional duodenal
histology.17 These cases may illustrate the patchy nature of bowel
involvement in coeliac disease and the inaccurate interpretation of duodenal
biopsies by inexperienced histopathologists. Preliminary data based on
staining of the subpopulation of T cells in the small bowel epithelium
suggests that these patients have potential CD.24 There are, however,
patients where the immunological disorder is primarily directed at the
nervous system with little or no damage to the gut. Our practice is to offer
a gluten-free diet to these patients unless the HLA genotype is not
consistent with susceptibility to gluten intolerance (that is, other than
HLA DQ2, DQ8, or DQ1). All patients are followed up and any clinical
response is documented. "
Anne

* Please remember some posters may be WHEAT-FREE, but not GLUTEN-FREE *