Antiendomysial and antitissue transglutaminase antibodies in gluten-induced enteropathy

Although the gold standard for diagnosis of coeliac disease remains the small bowel biopsy, the broad spectrum and the non-specific nature of many of the clinical manifestations makes biopsy as the initial investigation impossible. So, much effort has been put into the identification of serological screening tests with adequate sensitivity and specificity. The aim of this study was to identify antiendomysial and antitissue-transglutaminase antibodies as serum markers of coeliac disease in a group of patients admitted in the 3rd Medical Clinic, 4th Medical Clinic and 1st Pediatric Clinic as well as in the general population. The study was made on serum samples collected from 64 persons, adults and children with or without documented coeliac disease. Antitissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) antibodies were determined by the sandwich ELISA technique, using a commercial kit. Antiendomysium (EMA) antibodies were dosed by indirect immunofluorescence. Twenty-four subjects were positive for IgA anti-tTG and 23 for EMA. We found that IgA anti-tTG were 100% positive in patients with clinical suspicion of coeliac disease, the diagnosis being confirmed by biopsy. All, but two patients on a gluten-free diet had small or zero EMA levels. We also found that serum EMA levels correlated perfectly with the degree of histological alterations. A very good correlation was found between the serum concentrations of the two antibodies studied