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Celiac disease prevalence in epileptic children from Serbia

Zlatko Djurić1, Aleksandar Nagorni, Bosa Jocić-Jakubi

  • 1Department of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital, Nis, Serbia.

The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
|October 26, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Celiac disease (CD) prevalence was investigated in children with epilepsy. Testing for anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies revealed no significant difference compared to healthy children, suggesting routine screening is not recommended.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Gastroenterology
  • Neurology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten.
  • Previous studies report varying CD prevalence in children with epilepsy.
  • Idiopathic epilepsy affects a significant pediatric population.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of biopsy-proven celiac disease in children with idiopathic epilepsy.
  • To screen for CD using anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies in pediatric epilepsy patients.
  • To compare CD prevalence in children with epilepsy versus a healthy control group.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 125 children with idiopathic epilepsy (ages 2-18) from South East Serbia were screened for IgA tTG antibodies.
  • Positive screening results prompted endoscopic small bowel biopsy for histopathological confirmation of CD.
  • A control group of 150 healthy children was included for comparison.

Main Results:

  • Three children with epilepsy tested positive for IgA tTG antibodies.
  • One out of three positive cases was confirmed as CD via histopathology (Marsh IIIa).
  • The prevalence of biopsy-proven CD in children with epilepsy (0.8%) was not significantly higher than in controls (0.6%).

Conclusions:

  • The prevalence of celiac disease is not significantly elevated in children with idiopathic epilepsy in this region.
  • Routine screening for celiac disease in children with idiopathic epilepsy is not supported by these findings.
  • Further research may be needed to explore potential links in specific epilepsy subtypes or geographic areas.

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