Quantification by competitive R5 ELISA

Service description

Celiac disease is a permanent intolerance to prolamins of wheat, barley, rye and possibly also of oat. The ingestion of these proteins, in genetically predisposed people, induces a damage in the small intestine, characterized by crypt hyperplasia with total or subtotal villous atrophy and therefore interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. The incidence of celiac disease is approximately in the general population is 1 in 100-200, but recent evidence suggests that there are more undiagnosed than diagnosed cases. Presently, the only treatment for celiac disease is to follow a strict gluten-free diet for life. In our laboratory we use several techniques, both immunological (based on the R5 antibody) and non- immunological for the detection and quantification of gluten in foods. The immunological technique ELISA-R5 has been endorsed in 2006 by the Codex Alimentarius Commission as level I method for analysis of gluten in foods.