Tissue transglutaminase and coeliac disease pathogenesis: potential molecular mechanisms for other human diseases.

Coeliac disease (CD) is one of the most common food intolerances described in the western population. The main food agent that provokes the strong and diffuse clinical symptoms has been known for several years to be gliadin, a protein present in a very large number of human foods derived from vegetables. Only recently, some biochemical and immunological aspects of this very common disease have been clarified, and tissue transglutaminase, a multifunctional and ubiquitous enzyme, has been identified as one of the major factors.