Samuel Gee starched foods should be avoided. He forbids rice, sago, fruit and vegetables. Raw meat is recommended as are thin slices of toasted bread. Gee highlights particular success with a child "who was fed upon a quart of the best Dutch mussels daily". However, the child cannot bear this diet for more than one season. The cause of coeliac disease was eventually discovered to be an autoimmune reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat, plus Secalin in rye and Hordien in barley. The lining of the small bowel is flattened, which interferes with the absorption of nutrients. Gee would
Gluten immunochemistry gluten sensitivity only antibody recognition to gliadin has been resolved. In wheat allergy, the response pathways are mediated through IgE against other wheat proteins and other forms of gliadin. Innate immunity to gluten refers to an immune response that works independently of T-cell receptor or antibody recognition of the 'innate' peptide. This peptide acts directly on cells, such as monocytes, stimulating their growth and differentiation. Innate immunity to gluten is complicated by an apparent role gluten has in bypassing normal host defense and peptide exclusion mechanisms in the gut. While not truly innate, these activities allow gliadin to enter into