Gluten-free diet in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis. Effect on the occurrence of antibodies to reticulin and gluten.

In a prospective study of 51 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), the occurrence of antibodies against reticulin and gluten was investigated and the influences of gluten-free, gluten-restricted, and normal diets on the persistence of these antibodies were compared. After a period extending from 11 to 47 months, none of the patients who were eating a gluten-free diet had reticulin or gluten antibodies. The patients eating a normal diet had the same incidence of reticulin autoantibodies at the end of the study as at its beginning, and gluten antibodies developed in some additional patients during the follow-up period. Thus, we have shown that the elimination of gluten from the diet of patients with DH has an important influence on the occurrence of antibodies to both reticulin and gluten.