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Hi All,

I thought the following abstract might be of interest to those who are
gluten-free, but still interested in getting a firm diagnosis.  It is an
experimental procedure, but probably heralds testing that would not require
an uncomfortable and uncertain gluten challenge.

best wishes,
Ron Hoggan
Calgary, Alberta
Home of the National Conference of the Canadian Celiac Association, May 28,
29, 30, 1999


Oberhuber G, Schwarzenhofer M, Vogelsang H  In vitro model
of the pathogenesis of celiac disease. Dig Dis 1999 Nov-
Dec;16(6):341-4

Department of Clinical Pathology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

The in vitro challenge of duodenal mucosa with gliadin is a useful model to
reproduce the immunological features of celiac disease (CD) and allows the
study of early pathogenetic events in this disease. With this model it was
shown that antigens such as ICAM-1 and HLA-DR are upregulated as early as
1-2 h after gliadin challenge in patients with CD. After 24 h the lamina
propria contained CD4+ T cells expressing the IL-2 receptor alpha-chain,
which is a sign of activation. Intraepithelial lymphocytes increased in
number and showed proliferative activity. After in vitro stimulation with
gliadin, endomysial antibodies were found in the supernatant of the
cultured mucosa from patients with CD following a gluten-free diet. This
supported the notion that endomysial antibodies are at least in part
produced locally. The model was also successfully used to identify toxic
constituents of gliadin. Presently, organ culture is not commonly used for
diagnostic purposes.