Celiac Tests

[lynnmarie219]

I have been doing some research on Celiac and my rheumy ran 3 different tests to check this for me when I saw her on Monday..although I cant remember what they were right now (after 5 tubes of blood...I lost track of the tests).

I looked on labtestsonline and saw the different tests that may be used.....what exactly do they show when they do these tests? She wanted to do them with the other bloodwork and forward them to my GI doc as I am having a colonoscopy and EGD in a few weeks and she said if they come back indicating there is a problem , they can take a biopsy when they are doing the scopes.

Anyone have some basic information for me (the more basic the better...lol) to help me to understand these tests?

[irish]

lynnmarie, I'm sorry but I don't know the name of the blood work needed. My hubby has celiac sprue and I know he had it when we married in 1964 and he wasn't diagosed until 1978. He has lived with it a long time. He also has the microscopic colitis that is autoimmune. This can be really miserable, etc but is not life threatening like ulcerative colitis can be.

I am curious about the remark the doc make about doing the biopsy if the blood work shows something. If you are having bowel issues and symptoms I would assume that they will do biopsies anyway. Are they scoping your stomach cause if they do they can biopsy your small intestine during the procedure. Good luck and let us know how you come out. Irish

[lynnmarie219]

Yes Irish...I am having an EGD and colonoscopy done again in a few weeks. I think she meant that they will be able to test for this when they do the biopsies from both of the scopes. I'll be getting more information when I get all of the lab results back...the celiac tests take a little longer than the rest of my blood work...so I'm patiently (yeah right) waiting! 

[Linda196]

Lynn, the general panel for celiac is pretty much what you'd see for any autoimmune...CBC, ESR, CRP, Metabolic tests and hopefully levels of Vitamin D and B12. None of these show any particular "Celiac" effect, but will show the effect of whatever is happening in your body.

More specific tests look for  Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) markers DQ2 and DQ8. These are the genetic markers found in people with Celiac, but since they are also found in about 1/3 of healthy people, they aren't diagnostic, just indicative.

I wish you well through your scopes. Please check ind let us know how you're doing when you feel like it after.

[Shell]

Hi Lynnmarie,

I was worked up for IBD last year and had EGD, colonoscopy, and serologies.  My labs were sent to Prometheus.  Their website is user-friendly and has lots of info--maybe you will find something helpful to you there, as they do celiac testing as well.

http://www.prometheuslabs.com/

When you go to their homepage, you might want to check out the link under "Latest News and Events" from 6/2/09 about celiac.  It mentions a correlation between a certain antibody, flagellin CBir1, and certain genetic markers (HLA DQ2.5 and DQ8) in patients at risk for celiac.   I believe patients with Crohn's are often positive for this antibody, also.  That one came back positive for me, but my gastro said for me not to worry about it since my EGD and colonoscopy were basically normal.  Of course, now I'm wondering again!

Good luck with your procedures,
Shell

[gurs]

Just keep in mind, that if all your testing comes back normal, you still could have a gluten sensitivity. I guess the only way to tell is to try the gluten free and see if you feel better.

[lynnmarie219]

My Vitamin D and B12 came back normal as well as some other tests for Celiac (Endomysial IgA antibody, Deaminated Gliadin Peptide Assay IgA, and Tissue Transglutaminase IgA antibody...whew that was a mouthful). The ordering doctor was my rheumy and she was trying to run some general tests for my GI before the scopes are done in 2 weeks!

[irish]

Lynnmarie, When my hubby was tested in 1978 and diagnosed they didn't have as many tests they could do. The doc said that just by looking at my hubby he knew there was something wrong as he was so thin. Also, he did a folic acid blood test and it came back zero so he was pretty convinced their was a malabsorbtion problem going on. I don't know if they check folic acid anymore, but when one isn't absorbing food the oil soluble vitamins are the first to be affected. Good luck. Irish