Coeliac- and enteropathy-associated autoantibodies in Spanish insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients and their relation to HLA antigens

[Clinical profile of Santa Catarina members of Brazilian Celiac Association]

BACKGROUND

Celiac disease is an enteropathy induced by gluten in genetically predisposed individuals.

AIM

To establish the demographic and clinical characteristics of this disease in Santa Catarina State, Brazil.

METHODS

A descriptive transversal study was performed involving members of a regional celiac association, to whom a questionnaire focusing various aspects of the disease was sent.

RESULTS

From a total of 506 members, 145 (28.7%) were enrolled in the study--all of them biopsy-proven celiacs. Their mean age was 30.8 years (range, 3.3-82.5 years). Female to male rate was 2.1:1. The mean age at diagnosis was 16 years for men and 26.7 years for women. Most frequently reported symptoms were: abdominal distention (71.8%), abdominal pain (71%) and diarrhea (65.5%). Anemia, aphthous ulcers and constipation were more related by women, while diarrhea and low weight were more frequent in men. Only 42.1% of the participants had been submitted to biopsies compatible with a correct investigation of the disease (44.2 % had been submitted to biopsy only after gluten exclusion of the diet and 11.7% did not mentioned whether they were in a gluten-free diet when biopsied). Only 61.4% had been submitted to serological tests for diagnostic or dietary control purposes. Associated diseases were related by 65% of the individuals, of which the most common was lactose intolerance (33%). Vitaminic or mineral supplementation was indicated to 45% and only 32.5% have had bone mineral density measured. Of these, 59% had altered results.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest a tendency of diagnosis of celiac disease in older ages, specially among women. This may indicate the necessity of improving public and medical knowledge in Santa Catarina concerning the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Coeliac disease: a diverse clinical syndrome caused by intolerance of wheat, barley and rye

Coeliac disease is a lifelong intolerance to the gluten found in wheat, barley and rye, and some patients are also sensitive to oats. The disease is genetically determined, with 10% of the first-degree relatives affected and 75% of monozygotic twins being concordant. Of the patients with coeliac disease 95% are human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 positive. Characteristically, the jejunal mucosa becomes damaged by a T-cell-mediated autoimmune response that is thought to be initiated by a 33-mer peptide fragment in A2 gliadin, and patients with this disorder have raised levels of anti-endomysium and tissue transglutaminase antibodies in their blood. Coeliac disease is the major diagnosable food intolerance and, with the advent of a simple blood test for case finding, prevalence rates are thought to be approximately 1:100. Classically, the condition presented with malabsorption and failure to thrive in infancy, but this picture has now been overtaken by the much more common presentation in adults, usually with non-specific symptoms such as tiredness and anaemia, disturbance in bowel habit or following low-impact bone fractures. Small intestinal biopsy is necessary for diagnosis and shows a characteristically flat appearance with crypt hypoplasia and infiltration of the epithelium with lymphocytes. Diet is the key to management and a gluten-free diet effectively cures the condition. However, this commitment is lifelong and many aisles in the supermarket are effectively closed to individuals with coeliac disease. Compliance can be monitored by measuring antibodies in blood, which revert to negative after 6-9 months. Patients with minor symptoms, who are found incidentally to have coeliac disease, often ask whether it is necessary to adhere to the diet. Current advice is that dietary adherence is necessary to avoid the long-term complications, which are, principally, osteoporosis and small bowel lymphoma. However, risk of these complications diminishes very considerably in patients who are on a gluten-free diet.

Autoinmunidad pancreática, tiroidea y relacionada con la celiaquía en niños con diabetes mellitus tipo 1

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of beta-cell, thyroid and coeliac autoimmunity in children with recent-onset type 1 diabetes.

METHODS

We studied all children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. Data were analyzed from 63 children aged 2-14 years who were treated in the Department of Pediatrics of the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital in Granada (Spain) from 1998-2002. Antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 (GADA), anti-insulin (AIA), thyroperoxidase (anti-TPO), thyroglobulin (anti-TG), thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins (TSI) and endomysial antibodies (EmA-IgA) were measured and documented. A total of 55.5 % of these patients were girls and the mean age was 7.9 +/- 3.2 years.

RESULTS

The prevalence rates were: GADA 65.1 %; AIA 68.3 %; anti-TPO 11.1 %; anti-TG 9.5 %; TSI 4.8 % and EmA-Ig A 3.1 %. Children with thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO1) were significantly older and developed diabetes later in life (P < 0.05) than those without antibodies. Thyroid-stimulating hormone levels, goiter and thyroid dysfunction were higher in children who were anti-TPO1 than in diabetic children without thyroid autoimmunity.

CONCLUSIONS

Children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes show a high prevalence of thyroid and coeliac autoimmunity. In cases of positivity, additional work-up and intervention are advocated. These measures can prevent the well-known complications of diabetes and improve its clinical course.

Increased levels of bovine serum albumin antibodies in patients with type 1 diabetes and celiac disease-related antibodies

OBJECTIVES

To detect the presence of antibodies against bovine serum albumin in a cohort of Spanish patients with type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes.

METHODS

Antibodies were measured using an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test in 80 patients with type 1 diabetes, subdivided according to the presence or absence in their serum of celiac disease-related antibodies. For comparison, 30 patients with celiac disease (nondiabetic), 13 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis, and 45 healthy volunteers were used.

RESULTS

Thirty-one percent of patients with diabetes yielded a positive result, with a mean value of 26.1 +/- 21.8 arbitrary units (AU). If the group was split into those with celiac disease-related antibodies and those lacking them, the percentages were 53% and 25%, respectively, with a mean value of 39.6 +/- 28.4 AU and 22.4 +/- 18.3 AU (P = 0.003), respectively. Seventy-three percent of celiac patients showed bovine serum albumin antibodies with a mean level of 38.8 +/- 27.7 AU, comparable to that of patients with diabetes with celiac antibodies, but higher than the group lacking them (P = 0.001). Although 46% of patients with autoimmune thyroiditis had positive results, the level detected (22.1 +/- 8.7 AU) was significantly lower than that recorded in patients with type 1 diabetes who had celiac disease antibodies (P = 0.04) and celiac patients (P = 0.04). Healthy volunteers showed no antibodies against bovine serum albumin.

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that bovine serum albumin antibodies appears in patients with a compromised epithelial permeability, and they reflect a general defect in the process of immunologic tolerance associated with a predisposition to autoimmunity, rather than immunity specific to beta cells.

Gliadin, endomysial and thyroid antibodies in patients with latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA)

Latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA) manifested after the age of 35 is characterized by the presence of disease-specific autoantibodies (anti-glutamate decarboxylase GADAb, anti-IA2Ab). However, autoimmunity in Type 1 diabetes mellitus is not targeted only to pancreatic beta-cells. No data have so far been published concerning the antibodies associated with other autoimmune disease in LADA patients. The presence of anti-thyroglobulin (TGAb), anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb), anti-gliadin IgA (AGAAb) and IgG (AGGAb) and endomysial antibodies (EMAb) in sera of 68 diabetics typed as LADA was compared with the antibody presence in sera of 85 patients with Type 2 diabetes. We found a significantly higher occurrence of gliadin antibodies in LADA patients: the rate of AGGAb was 19.1% in comparison with 3.5% in the T2DM group (P = 0.0026), the rate of AGAAb was 13.2% in comparison with 3.5% (P = 0.035). The prevalence of EMAb was very low in both groups (1.5% and 0). The two groups differed significantly in the TPOAb rate: 22.1% in LADA compared to 9.4% in T2DM (P = 0.04), whereas no significant difference was found in the presence of TGAb (8.8% and 3.5%, P = 0.187). In comparison with T2DM patients, LADA patients were found to express higher antibody activity against gluten-related antigens and against TPO.