Background — Some drugs might contain gliadin which can be dangerous for celiac disease patients. Objective - Detect gliadin in pharmaceutical products commonly used in Brazil. Methods - We analyzed 78 pharmaceutical products selected aleatory from a list of 180 products most frequently sold at Brazilian community pharmacies. The analyzed samples were analgesics (n = 9), anthelmintics (n = 3), antiacids (n = 8), antibiotics (n = 13), anticolesterolemics (n = 1), anticonvulsants (n = 2), antidepressants (n = 2), antiemetics (n = 3), antihipertensives (n = 3), antihistaminics (n = 3), anti-inflamatories (n = 7), antipyretics (n = 2), bronchodilatadors (n = 1), laxatives (n = 1), oral contraceptives (n = 5) and vitamins (n = 10). The samples were analyzed by enzyme immunoassay based on monoclonal antibodies omega-gliadins, the elected technique according to the Codex Alimentarius Commission WHO/FAO. All samples were analyzed in duplicate. The sensitivity of this test is 4 mg of gliadin/100 g of product. Results - Only one (1.3%) out of 78 pharmaceutical products contained detectable amounts of gliadin (5,5 mg/100 g). The active ingredient of this drug is ranitidine. According to the Codex Alimentarius Commission WHO/FAO the intake of 10 mg of gliadin/day should not be exceeded by celiac disease patients. Considering the amount of gliadin in each capsule of ranitidine, the ingested quantity would be lower than the maximum allowed for celiac patients. Conclusions - In this study gliadin was not detected in pharmaceutical products in harmful amount for celiac disease patients.
Gliadin; Gluten; Celiac disease; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Drug therapy
