The effect of diet on systemic immune responses to wheat gliadin.

These studies examined the influence of gluten ingestion on the murine immune response to this cereal antigen. The results demonstrated that the level of specific antibody in the serum of mice immunised with gliadin is markedly reduced when gluten is present in the diet on which the animals were raised. Serum antibody concentrations in the gluten-free (G-F) mice were between 10- and 50-fold greater than those in the standard (STD) mice. The suppression of the antibody response to gliadin in the gluten-fed mice appeared to be antigen-specific, as STD mice responded normally to unrelated antigens such as sheep red blood cells (SRBC). This hyporesponsiveness towards gliadin develops very early in the animals' life. We suggest that this may occur through the transfer of small immunogenic fragments from mothers to their offspring either in utero or post-natally in the milk.