This file contains postings made by the following professionals: Donald D. Kasarda, Ph.D.--a research chemist with the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. Kasarda has worked on grain proteins in relation to grain quality for 30+ years. He has colloborated with medical groups working on celiac disease for over 25 years and has often been used as an informal consultant by support groups. Vijay Kumar, M.D.--president of IMMCO Diagnostics, one of the labs that performs celiac antibody blood tests.
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 09:48:19 EDT From: IMMTEST@AOL.COM Subject: Re: genetic markers for celiac testing <<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> In response to Bev Wahl's question about the correct genetic markers for celiac disease: The genetic markers associated with celiac disease are HLA DQalpha *0501 HLA DQbeta *0201 More than 90% of patients with CD have these markers. Negative tests for these markers in conjunction with negative serum antibody tests suggest an absence of CD. However, positive tests for the genetic markers do not necessarily mean that the patient has celiac disease. In conclusion, genetic markers can be used as a test to exclude celiac disease as a diagnosis. Vijay Kumar, PhD. IMMCO Diagnostics, Inc. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 11:57:11 PDT From: bev lewis <bevlewis@HOTMAIL.COM> Subject: Fwd: malt and celiac disease <<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Hi You may recall I enquired awhile ago about the difference of opinion between North American and UK groups about malt flavouring. I finally had a response from Kellog's in the UK stating that rice krispies are gluten free. I forwrded that message to a couple of people on this list to ask advice. Bill Elkus suggested I forward some responses to the list. What follows is Don Kasarda's response to Kellog's: ---------------------------- Date: Sat, 11 Jul 98 17:45:26 +0100 From: "Donald D. Kasarda" <kasarda@pw.usda.gov> To: michael.coupland@kellogg.com Dear Michael, I have been asked to comment on your reply to Bev Lewis about the absence of gluten (or the barley equivalent) in malt flavoring. I am a cereal chemist who is sometimes asked for advice in regard to the gluten proteins as they relate to celiac disease by celiac patient organizations. I have provided advice to Kellogg in the past in regard to safe processing of a rice cereal (Kenmei) in order to avoid contamination. Kenmei has since been discontinued by the company. While it is possible that the malt flavoring you refer to is free of all harmful peptides, your statement that because the flavoring is a water wash of malt, it is free of gluten is not in itself completely satisfying for the following reasons. At present, we are pretty sure that peptides derived from gliadin proteins and consisting of as few as 12 amino acids can be toxic. These small peptides are sometimes quite water soluble as well. When malt is prepared by germination of barley, hydrolytic enzymes break down the harmful (to celiac patients) hordein proteins. It is possible that some of the resulting peptides are small enough to be water soluble, but large enough to retain harmful activity in celiac disease. A peptide of molecular weight no greater than about 1300 could potentially still be active in celiac disease. Therefore, the water wash could pick up harmful hordein peptides. Furthermore, unless the wash was centrifuged or filtered to clarify it, it could pick up small amounts of suspended particles that could contain hordein proteins or fragments of them that resulted from the protease action during germination. The amounts of harmful peptides or proteins that end up in a malt-flavored cereal might well be insignificant for celiac patients, for, after all, the amounts in the wash are likely to be small and the amount of flavoring added to the cereal is probably a small part of the total solids. My main point is that some transfer of harmful peptides to the water wash could occur and unless your researchers have studied this question and have some basis for concluding that the amounts are insignificant (other than because a water wash was used), perhaps it would be best to indicate that some uncertainty still exists. Incidentally, my suspicion is that there is not enough of the harmful peptides in Rice Krispies to cause harm to celiac patients, but for me it is only a suspicion in that I know of no experimental measurements or calculations in regard to the question and we still do not have a really solid indication of how little of the harmful proteins or peptides is OK for celiac patients on a daily basis. Sincerely, Don Kasarda ---------------------------- Bev in London, ON
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