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Celiac disease, also known as non-tropical sprue, celiac sprue, or gluten-sensitive enteropathy, is an autoimmune disease. It is caused by the body's immune system reacting to gluten and its derived peptides like gliadins. Gluten is broadly termed protein found in wheat, rye, and barley that is part of most meals, including pasta, cakes, breakfast cereals, and most types of bread and sauces.
The hypersensitive inflammatory response occurs in the small intestine, damaging the intestinal mucosal brush border and resulting in malabsorption. Consequently, deficiency of essential nutrients leads to clinical diagnosis. Several risk factors can speed up the process of manifesting the disease, for example, family history, a mutation in the HLA-DRQ gene, and rotavirus infection in childhood, or it can be completely idiopathic.