Multiple sclerosis and gluten

Multiple sclerosis (MS) becomes evident as the silent creeping damage of the immune system's destruction of myelin crosses the threshold of sensibility. Additional evidence that loss of tolerance to gluten can be a contributing cause in multiple sclerosis is offered in a study published in Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. This deserves reflection because many clinicians seem to disregard that non-celiac gluten sensitivity may present with no other symptoms. The authors state:

"Multiple changes in antibodies against various antigens are found in multiple sclerosis (MS)... We wanted to measure immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies to some common food antigens in MS and also IgG against gliadin and gluten."

They measured serum IgA antibodies were measured against gluten, gliadin, lactoglobulin, lactalbumin, casein and ovalbumin in patients with multiple sclerosis and unafflicted controls. They added measurements of IgG for gluten and gliadin. The data showed a very strong correlation in multiple sclerosis with the antibodies for gluten and milk:

"Highly significant increases compared with controls were found for IgA and IgG antibodies against gliadin and gluten. IgA antibodies against casein were significantly increased. Anti-endomycium and anti-transglutaminase antibodies were negative."

Clinical note: The absence of anti-transglutaminase antibodies means of course that these are non-celiac cases, rather the reaction to gluten was fueling multiple sclerosis.The authors' conclusion brings to the mind the issue of compromised intestinal barrier function ('intestinal permeability'):

"The data presented indicate that there may be a possible moderately increased uptake of some specific proteins from the gut in MS compared with controls."