--almost always show considerable flattening of the instestinla villi, and numerous nutrient malabsoption syndromes. It's the latter that often gets physicians attention, as such people show up with numerous vitmain/mineral deficiencies (if the docs bother to test those!), low serum protein, often high CPK from the body's attempt to catalyze muscle for protein, and lots of neural symptoms, both from the autoimmune attack itself and from the nutrient deficiencies.

Many may also show dermatitis hepatiformis, though one doesn't have to be in the dire stages to have this.

As gluten increases intestinal permeability through the mediation of Zonulin, which regulates epithelial cell spacing in the gut, many more nasty pathogens have a tendency to slip past the alimentary tract, and this can result in direct infection, further autoimmune reaction . . .the sad part is that hundreds of symptoms can result from the chain reaction of gluten sensitivity, and it's hard to pull these apart from other possible causes.

Fortunately, most people don't get to such dire stages. People vary greatly in their autoimmune response to gluten--a tiny amount that results in drastic symptoms in one person may not cause much of a noticable reaction in another. But there's a lot of "silent" celiac and gluten sensitivity out there--exacerbated by many doctors lack of knowledge about what to check for and how--that may suddenly explode due to some trigger (stress, infecton).

As far as the antigliadin test goes, some researchers feel that the way the test is done may produce reactions to individual antibodies that are not specifically anti-gliadin, which is why many prefer than anti-transglutaminase. Still, I feel that a positive anti-gliadin does indicate a reaction to something--and Dr. H's research seems to point that some people with a particular genetic make-up are more likely to show an anti-gliadin positive and neural symptoms to gluten than an anti-tranglutaminase positive and "classic" gastric celiac.

I still think that given your and your daughter's history you're better off avoiding gluten altogether; consuming it just to see if a positive test will come up seems like overkill, especially given her symptoms. After all, a gluten-free diet is not a drug intervention and can't hurt you, though it can be a bit of a learning curve with all the stuff gluten is hidden in.