Gluten,a lectin with oligomannosyl specificity and the causative agent of gluten-sensitive enteropathy

The pathogenesis of gluten-sensitive enteropathy or coeliac disease is as yet unknown. We can demonstrate by laser nephelometric measurements that gluten has lectin-like properties. Gluten binds ‘high-mannose type’ glycoproteins and the complex formation is inhibitable by mannan. As known for other lectins the reaction is absolutely Ca-dependent. Glycoproteins from the immature crypt cells from the small intestine are highly more reactive than glycoproteins from the mature villous zone. The possibility of a genetically determined deficiency of the growth-dependent N-acetyl-glucosaminyltransferase-1 as the pathogenic factor of the gluten-sensitive enteropathy is discussed.