Protein gluten, malabsorption

Malabsorption Syndrome, with Special Reference to the Effects of Wheat Gluten (Frazer), 5, 69 Mellituria, Nonglucose (Sidbury), 4, 29 Microbiological Assay Methods for Vitamins (Baker and Sobotka), 5, 173 Organic Acids in Blood and Urine (Nordmann and Nordmann), 4, 53 Paper Electrophoresis Principles and Techniques (Peeters), 2, 1 Paper Electrophoresis of Proteins and Protein-Bound Substances in Clinical Investigations (Owen), I, 238 Parathyroid Function and Hyperparathyroidism, Biochemical Aspects of (Nordin), 4, 275... 

Normally there is very little fat in the feces. However, fat content in stools may increase because of various fat malabsorption syndromes. Such increased fat excretion is steatorrhea. Decreased fat absorption may be the result of failure to emulsify food contents because of a deficiency in bile salts, as in liver disease or bile duct obstruction (stone or tumor). Pancreatic insufficiency may result in an inadequate pancreatic lipase supply. Finally, absorption itself may be faulty because of damage to intestinal mucosal cells through allergy or infection. An example of allergy-based malabsorption is celiac disease, which is usually associated with gluten intolerance. Gluten is a wheat protein. An example of intestinal infection is tropical sprue, which is often curable with tetracycline. Various vitamin deficiencies may accompany fat malabsorption syndromes. 

Nontropical sprue (adult celiac disease) results from a reaction to gluten, a protein found in grains. Intestinal epithelial cells are damaged and malabsorption results. Common symptoms are steatorrhea, diarrhea, and weight loss. 

Carbohydrate malabsorption can occur in a number of diseases that cause mucosal damage or dysfunction (e.g., gastroenteritis, protein deficiency, gluten-sensitive enteropathy). Disorders due to deficiencies of specific oligosaccharidases are discussed below. 

Celiac disease (celiac sprue) is an allergic inflammatory condition caused by poorly digested proline-rich sequences of wheat gluten and related proteins (p. 74). The disease is usually not recognized, but it may occur in 3% or more of the United States population. A T-cell response that causes destruction of the smaller intestinal mucosa, celiac disease is characterized by malabsorption and diarrhea. It can cause death by starvation. A primary target of the autoantibodies is a transglutaminase. ... 

Wheat is the most nutritious cereal, but can only be grown in temperate climates on relatively rich soils. One of the chief advantages of wheat results from the peculiar viscid properties of gluten, the mixture of proteins present, which enable wheat, unlike other cereals apart from rye, to be used for making bread. However, a few people who suffer from coeliac disease are sensitive to gluten and develop lesions of the small intestine which lead to malabsorption, notably of fat. 

A rare metabolic disorder of children, sometimes called Malabsorption Syndrome, which appears to run in families and, therefore, may be due to a genetic defect. The disease results from a sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and several other- ut not all—grains. Affected children are unable to absorb fats, certain starches, and some sugars. 

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