Adherence of gliadin fractions to lymphocytes in coeliac disease.

Mice were immunised with a mixture of low-molecular-weight peptides prepared from beta-gliadin by digestion and ultrafiltration and found to be toxic to cultures of intestinal mucosa from patients with coeliac disease (CD). The antiserum obtained was used to detect the adherence of the same peptides to white blood cells of CD patients and healthy controls. 43% of B lymphocytes of CD patients exhibited binding of gliadin peptides compared with only 12.5% of their T lymphocytes and 17% of B lymphocytes of healthy controls. Adherence of gliadin fractions seemed to have no relation to the HLA antigens of the subjects. It is concluded that B lymphocytes of CD patients have a surface receptor for gliadin which may be important in the pathogenesis of CD.