What is gliadin and what does it cause in your body?

In this article, you will learn what gliadin is and what health problems may be associated with its consumption.

What is gliadin?

Gliadin is a type of protein found in wheat. It is part of a larger protein called prolamin, or a subfraction of gluten, present in wheat.

It is important to remember that wheat is not the only cereal with inflammatory gluten prolamins; in fact, ALL cereals—including corn, rice, oats, etc.—have their own type of gluten fraction.

What does gliadin cause in your body?

Gliadin can be difficult for the intestine to digest (Barone MV et al., 2022), where 70% of the immune system is located.

Effects of gliadin on the intestine

Since gliadin is a molecule that is difficult to digest, poorly digested particles can pass into the bloodstream. When this occurs, your immune system is activated and generates antigliadin IgG and antigliadin IgA antibodies (Engin B et al., 2023).

When gliadin comes into contact with the enterocyte, it begins to secrete zonulin, a protein that modulates these junctions. The cells start to separate, allowing the entry of potentially harmful or foreign macromolecules into the body and increasing intestinal permeability.

Consumption of gliadin with intestinal permeability

Within this context, a study published in Nutrients in 2015 (1) by Alessio Fasano and collaborators describes that gliadin affects intestinal barrier function, increasing permeability, confirming that:

1. ALL individuals, after being exposed to gliadin = gluten, showed an increase in intestinal permeability
2. People with active celiac disease may have greater intestinal permeability than celiacs in remission or non-celiacs
3. Individuals ^{sensitive to gluten may have greater intestinal permeability} than celiacs in remission

What foods contain gliadin?

All foods made with wheat contain gliadin:

• Bread
• Pasta
• Cakes and pastries
• Pancakes
• Cookies
• Tortillas or fajitas
• Pizza
• Soy sauce
• Sausages
• Beer

Any food or product that contains wheat among its ingredients.

What is gliadin used for?

In terms of the culinary application of wheat flours and other cereals, their function is to form a resistant, viscoelastic, and cohesive dough, capable of retaining gas and producing light and airy baked goods. This is why bread and cakes rise or lift more easily (Villanueva R, 2014).

Diagnosis of gliadin sensitivity: What do antigliadin IgG antibodies mean?

We help you evaluate whether gliadin is an enemy for you.

When screening for celiac disease and doing blood tests, you look for this antigliadin IgG antibody, which signals that your immune system has been reacting against this protein present in wheat and is causing you intestinal permeability.

You can also do tests such as:

• The microbiota and specialized stool test: which also measures positive IgA antibodies, indicators that your intestine is inflamed.
• Blood tests to look for deamidated gliadin peptides, which can be done in common laboratories.
• The genetic gluten test.

NutriWhite’s approach to gliadin

The NutriWhite approach is not about counting calories but rather counting inflammation. We raise awareness about “enemy foods,” such as wheat due to its gliadin content, which can break that semi-permeable and selective intestinal barrier that separates your inner world from the external environment through food intake.

We invite you to transform your life and take control of your intestinal health, which translates into your overall health and is the main modifiable epigenetic factor for “modern” diseases.

We can guide you in your NutriWhite Consultation, where we will recommend what best suits your particular case.

‍References:

1. Barone MV, Salvatore A. Pro-Inflammatory Nutrient: Focus on Gliadin and Celiac Disease. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 May 17;23(10):5577. doi: 10.3390/ijms23105577. PMID: 35628388; PMCID: PMC9141948.
2. Pfluger, Laura. Wheat Applied Genomics. Gluten Strength, Coordinated Agricultural Project (USDA-CSREES funded), "http://maswheat.ucdavis.edu/protocols/gluten/index.htm Archivado el 21 de enero de 2013 en Wayback Machine." Accessed 21-Aug-2007
3. Identificación de alelos de gluteninas y gliadinas en harinas de trigo entero (Triticum aestivum L.) y su relación con la calidad panadera. Revista de la Facultad de Agronomía Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina. Juan José Calixto Muñoz, Carlos Guzmán García, Dora Luz Pinzón Martínez, Ana TarínGutiérrez Ibáñez, Sanjaya Rajaram, Alejandra DonajíSolís Méndez, María DoloresMariezcurrena Berasain. ISSN:1669-9513 Periodicidad:Semestral Vol. 121,núm. 2, 2022redaccion.revista@agro.unlp.edu.arRecepción:01 Agosto 2022 Aprobación:08 Septiembre 2022 URL: http://portal.amelica.org/ameli/journal/23/233665014/DOI:https://doi.org/10.24215/16699513e118Autor de correspondencia:jjcalixxto@gmail.com
4. Justin Hollon 1,*, Elaine Leonard Puppa 2 , Bruce Greenwald 3 , Eric Goldberg 3 , Anthony Guerrerio 4 and Alessio Fasano 5 (2015): Efecto de la gliadina sobre la permeabilidad de explantes de biopsia intestinal de pacientes con enfermedad celíaca y pacientes con sensibilidad al gluten no celíaca : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4377866/
5. Engin B, Huseynova C, Ak T, Ayla AY, Can G, Uğurlu S. Screening of antigliadin and antitissue transglutaminase antibodies in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis: a case-control study. Turk J Med Sci. 2023 Apr;53(2):544-551. doi: 10.55730/1300-0144.5615. Epub 2023 Apr 19. PMID: 37476878; PMCID: PMC10387849.