Why is my antigliadin antibody elevated if I have been on a gluten-free diet?
There are several reasons why an antigliadin antibody test can be positive despite being on a gluten free diet. The most obvious reason is that there may be hidden gluten in the diet. Gluten is ubiquitous, and if a person does not prepare 100% of their own food, one can not guarantee no gluten intake. Hidden gluten in unsuspected sources or contaminating otherwise gluten-free foods is also possible. But more often, the values are indeed on the lower end of positive, and previous values may have been higher still. So in fact the “elevated value” in fact may represent a marked improvement over previous antibody levels. Sometimes, however, people are so immune suppressed from damage to the intestine and malnutrition that a gluten free diet actually can make the antibody values go up for a time, a reflection of enhanced immune function and response.
