In patients with celiac disease, wheat gluten or related prolamines in rye and barley cause a T-cell-mediated small-bowel enteropathy, which results in various clinical symptoms. Infants and young children can present with classic malabsorption, including diarrhea, vomiting, lassitude, weight loss and abdominal distension. Less obvious symptoms such as recurrent abdominal pain, stunted growth or iron-deficient anemia are common in older children and teenagers with celiac disease. In adults, an even more variable clinical picture is observed; however, almost all people with celiac disease have the HLA-DQ2 and/or HLA-DQ8 haplotypes.
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