More Stuff on Wheat Gluten Opening Pandora's Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/page/opening-pandoras-bread-box-critical-role-wheat-lectin-human-disease

Here's and excerpt that is interesting and stands out.
WGA stands for Wheat Germ Agglutinin
Grains are rich in lectins

Each grain contains about one microgram of WGA. That seems hardly enough to do any harm to animals our size. Lectins, however, are notoriously dangerous even in minute doses and can be fatal when inhaled or injected directly into the bloodstream. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it takes only 500 micrograms (about half a grain of sand) of ricin (a lectin extracted from castor bean casings) to kill a human. A single, one ounce slice of wheat bread contains approximately 500 micrograms of WGA, which, if it were refined to its purest form and injected directly into the blood, could, in theory, have platelet-aggregating and erythrocyte-agglutinizing effects strong enough to create an obstructive clot such as that occuring in myocardial infarction and stroke. This, however, is not a likely route of exposure and, in reality, the immediate pathologies associated with lectins like ricin and WGA are largely restricted to the gastrointestinal tract where they can cause mucosal injuries. The point is that WGA, even in small quantities, could have profoundly adverse effects, given suitable conditions. Ironically, WGA is exceptionally small, at 36 kilodaltons (approximately the mass of 36,000 hydrogen atoms) and it can pass through the cell membranes of the intestine with ease. The intestines will allow passage of molecules up to 1,000 kilodaltons in size. Moreover, one wheat kernel contains 16.7 trillion individual molecules of WGA, with each molecule of WGA having four N-Acetylglucosamine binding sites. The disruptive and damaging effects of whole wheat bread consumption are formidable in someone whose protective mucosal barrier has been compromised by something as simple as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, or a recent viral or bacterial infection. The common consumption of both wheat and NSAIDs may suggest the frequency of the WGA vicious cycle. Anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen and aspirin, increase intestinal permeabilty and may cause absorption of even larger-than-normal quantities of pro-inflammatory WGA. Conversely, the inflammation caused by the absorption of WGA lectin is the very reason there is a great need for the inflammation-reducing effects of NSAIDs.