You hypothesize that autoimmune disease happens when the immune system attacks tissue which is not under antigen attack. I disagree. The small intestine's immune system mistakes gluten for fructose-grown microorganisms. The reason? Both have hyphal wall protein1 (HWP1) on their surfaces.

Cells and glutamine are bonded into a matrix by a "cross linked" protein called tissue transglutaminase (tTg). HWP1 is a cross-linking protein. Both gluten and harmful digestive microorganisms use HWP1 to stick to the tTg on the small intestine lining. The immune system detects harmful microorganisms by detecting HWP1. One way it reacts is by releasing the protein zonulin. Zonulin makes the small intestine walls permeable and washes the partially digested small intestine contents into the bloodstream.

So the gut's immune system initiates the zonulin dump in response to both fructose and gluten ingestion. The blood's immune system becomes 1) responsible for handling the results, and 2) overwhelmed.

Gluten is a massive protein. It contains more genetic material than the human genome. Some gluten proteins are "lectins" .......harmful glycoproteins. Some gluten lectins have attachment chemicals identical to the attachment chemicals of the body's own glycoproteins. They plug into bodily tissue in place of natural glycoproteins, and attack the tissue. Unfortunately the tissue most vulnerable to this attack is nerve tissue. The most vulnerable nerves are organ control nerves .....organ transduction nerves.

The attack itself causes disease. If the immune system responds, it causes autoimmune disease. Doctors cannot effectively test for either of these conditions. Only an elimination challenge diet can do this.
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