In conditions that promote a leaky gut, the compounds of the food bolus that are usually kept safely in the intestinal lumina—including undigested food macromolecules, toxins, bacteria, or parts of bacteria known as endotoxins—has now the potential to pass through the fragile and unicellular mucosal membrane of the small intestine, and to reach the blood circulation.

Emerging health implications of gluten sensitivity reach far beyond the borders of the gastrointestinal tract. The gluten-sensitive spectrum includes different forms of manifestations: allergic (wheat allergy), autoimmune celiac disease (CD), dermatitis herpetiformis, gluten ataxia, and immune-mediated (nonceliac gluten sensitivity).