IgA antibodies in Rett syndrome.
Girls with Rett syndrome show sky-high IgA/IgG to gluten and casein, hinting at a leaky gut that may also appear in ASD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lecavalier et al. (2006) drew blood from girls with Rett syndrome and from girls without it.
They measured IgA and IgG antibodies to gluten, gliadin, and casein in both groups.
What they found
Rett girls had much higher antibody levels to all three food proteins.
The jump was large enough to suggest their guts let more protein into the blood.
How this fits with other research
Zhou et al. (2018) saw the same IgA spike in stool from kids with autism, so the gut-immune link crosses diagnoses.
Karagözlü et al. (2022) found high zonulin, a leaky-gut marker, in autistic children, backing the idea that the gut barrier is loose.
Lee et al. (2018) linked autism to inflammatory bowel disease, showing gut trouble can show up as clinical disease, not just lab numbers.
Why it matters
If you serve clients with Rett or ASD, watch for GI pain, reflux, or food refusal. High food antibodies may signal a leaky gut, not a true food allergy. Share the lab results with the child's GI doctor and consider a short trial of dairy- or gluten-free meals while you track behavior and sleep. Document any change in your session notes so the team can decide if the diet helps.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The level of IgA antibodies to gluten and gliadin proteins found in grains and to casein found in milk, as well as the level of IgG to gluten and gliadin, have been examined in 23 girls with Rett syndrome and 53 controls. Highly statistically significant increases were found for the Rett population compared to the controls. The reason for this remains unknown, but because IgA antibodies reflect the uptake of proteins and/or epitopes of proteins from the gut, this may be indicative of increased protein uptake.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2006 · doi:10.1177/1362361306062024