Med. praxi. 2024;21(4):256-258 | DOI: 10.36290/med.2024.037

Gluten­‑induced diseases and when to think about them

MUDr. Pavel Svoboda, Ph.D.

Interní a kardiologická klinika, Oddělení gastroenterologie, hepatologie a pankreatologie, Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava

Katedra interních oborů, Lékařská fakulta, Ostravská univerzita, Ostrava

Gluten is a mixture of proteins in the grains of wheat, rye, barley and oats that can cause a variety of diseases, whether autoimmune (celiac disease), allergic (wheat allergy) or otherwise (non-celiac gluten/wheat sensitivity). The following procedures are mainly used in diagnosis: careful history taking, determination of celiac-specific autoantibodies supplemented by histological examination of the duodenal mucosa, determination of allergen-specific IgE antibodies in serum and skin tests, or gluten elimination and exposure tests. It is important to think about these diseases when intestinal or extraintestinal symptoms are suspected or in some autoimmune or genetic diseases. A gluten-free diet should not be started before the necessary diagnostic tests have been performed and a diagnosis has been made in collaboration with a gastroenterologist and allergist.

Keywords: celiac disease, gluten, gluten sensitivity, intolerance, allergy.

Received: July 22, 2024; Revised: September 6, 2024; Accepted: September 9, 2024; Published: October 2, 2024  Show citation