Failure of R1 type anti-reticulin antibody to react with fibronectin, collagen type III or the non-collagenous reticulin component (NCRC).

The precise specificity of the R1 anti-reticulin antibody (ARA) associated with untreated gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE) is unknown. Collagen type III, fibronectin and the non-collagenous reticulin component (NCRC) of Pras & Glynn (1973) co-distribute in tissues in a manner consistent with their being components of reticulin. We therefore used purified preparations of these connective tissue components in studies of the specificity of the ARA. Our results show that the ARA found in GSE does not react with collagen type III, fibronectin or NCRC.