Symptoms and signs in individuals with serology positive for celiac disease but normal mucosa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antibody serology is an important tool in the investigation of celiac disease (CD), but does not always correlate with mucosal appearance in the small intestine. Patients with positive CD serology but normal mucosa (Marsh 0) are at increased risk of future CD. In this study we describe a model for identifying and characterizing individuals with normal mucosa but positive CD serology. Such individuals are sometimes referred to as having latent CD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The records of ten Swedish pathology departments were used to identify individuals with biopsies indicating normal duodenal/jejunal mucosa. Using the national personal identification number, these data were linked with CD serology data (antigliadin, antiendomysial and tissue transglutaminase antibodies); and we thereby identified 3,736 individuals with normal mucosa but positive CD serology. Two independent reviewers then manually reviewed their biopsy reports to estimate comorbidity. We also randomly selected 112 individuals for validation through patient chart review.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The majority of the 3,736 individuals were females (62%). Children (0–15 years) made up 21.4%. The median number of biopsy specimen was 3. Our review of biopsy reports found that other gastrointestinal comorbidity was rare (inflammatory bowel disease: 0.4%; helicobacter pylori infection: 0.2%). Some 22% individuals selected for patient chart review had a relative with CD. The most common symptoms among these individuals were diarrhea (46%) and abdominal pain (45%), while 26% had anemia. Although 27% of the individuals selected for validation had been informed about gluten-free diet, only 13% were adhering to a gluten-free diet at the end of follow-up.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Individuals with positive CD serology but normal mucosa often have CD-like symptoms and a family history of CD.</p

Tissue transglutaminase immunoglobulin isotypes in children with untreated and treated celiac disease

Objectives: Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) autoantibodies are serologic markers for celiac disease (CD). The aim was to determine the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of different immunoglobulin isotypes against tTG. Methods: Immunoglobulin A (IgA)-tTG, IgG-tTG, and IgGl-tTG were measured in radioligand binding assays in 67 children with untreated and 89 children with treated CD and compared with 48 biopsy controls. IgM-tTG was measured in children with untreated CD and in biopsy controls. IgA endomysial autoantibodies (EMA) were analyzed in all children using an immunofluorescence method. Results: The sensitivity of IgA-tTG and IgG-tTG was 85.1% (57 of 67) and 83.6% (56 of 67), respectively, which both increased to 93.8% (45 of 48) in children diagnosed at age 2 years or older. Both had a specificity of 93.8% (45 of 48). IgA-EMA had a sensitivity of 80.6% (54 of 67) and a specificity of 91.7% (44 of 48). In treated CD, IgA-tTG and IgG-tTG were detected in 21.3% (19 of 89) and in 14.6% (13 of 89), respectively, despite negative EMA titers. IgGl-tTG was correlated to age (r = -0.47, P = 0.0005) and detected in 50.7% (34 of 67) with untreated CD compared with 11.2% (10 of 89) with treated CD and with 4.2% (2 of 48) of biopsy controls (P < 0.0001, respectively). IgM-tTG was detected in 1.5% (1 of 67) with untreated CD and in none of biopsy controls. Conclusion: IgA-tTG and IgG-tTG analyzed in radioligand binding assays are equivalent to IgA-EMA as screening tests for CD during childhood, but an intestinal biopsy is still the method of choice to establish the diagnosis. Although IgGl-tTG was more common at young age of diagnosis, both IgGl-tTG and IgM-tTG had low specificity and sensitivity and may not be useful as screening tests for CD