Coeliac disease: alpha-1-antitrypsin contents in jejunal mucosa before and after gluten-free diet.

Biopsies of the jejunum from 10 patients suffering from coeliac disease were investigated by an immunohistochemical technique for alpha-I-antitrypsin. The biopsies obtained before treatment did not contain alpha-I-antitrypsin, but after a gluten-free diet alpha-I-antitrypsin was present in Paneth cells in the mucosal crypts. This finding suggests that the absence of alpha-I-antitrypsin in the jejunal mucosa might be a pathogenetic factor in coeliac disease.