The prolamin antibody reactivity against hordein polypeptides in sera from patients with coeliac disease

The antibody reactivity against the barley prolamin, hordein, was investigated by an immunoblotting technique, in sera from patients with untreated coeliac disease, patients with other gastrointestinal diseases and healthy controls. No characteristic hordein polypeptide antibody pattern could be connected to coeliac disease, as observed in a similar study using different fractions of the wheat prolamin, gliadin. Gliadin- and hordein-immunoadsorbent column experiments demonstrated that the prolamin reactivity originates from the same population of antibodies. It is speculated that distinct antigenic epitopes characteristic for untreated coeliac disease, might reside within a N-terminal repeat region of gliadin.