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Necrotizing enterocolitis: diagnosis with plasma IgG anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies
Hua Li1, Chaoting Lan1, Shuo Chen2
1Department of Child Healthcare, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Background:
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe inflammatory gastrointestinal disease in neonates. We aimed to evaluate the potential of IgG anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (IgG tTG) as early biomarkers for NEC.
Method:
We conducted a prospective observational study, collecting plasma from 60 neonates with abdominal distension (AD), which were divided into the NEC (n = 30) and the controls (n = 30) according to the follow-up results, and used the autoantigen microarray to identify for NEC-associated autoantibodies. An Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was utilized to measure plasma IgG tTG levels in a validation study (NEC n = 43, controls n = 20).
Results:
Microarray analysis indicated significantly elevated IgG tTG levels in neonates with NEC compared to controls (P < 0.001). ELISA further confirmed the significant elevation of IgG tTG in neonates with NEC (P < 0.001). IgG tTG effectively distinguished neonates with NEC from the controls, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.8674 (sensitivity of 72.09% and specificity of 95%). Encouragingly, IgG tTG levels were significantly higher in neonates with NEC I than in controls (P < 0.001). Additionally, as clinical conditions of neonates with NEC improved, the IgG tTG levels declined (P = 0.0159).
Conclusion:
IgG tTG has potential as a biomarker for early diagnosis of NEC and predicting its prognosis after treatment.
Impact:
Our results demonstrate that IgG anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies possess significant diagnostic value for NEC. IgG anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies can serve as a biomarker for early diagnosis NEC and its prognosis of treatment. The relationship between IgG anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies and immune diseases may shed light on the pathogenesis of NEC, potentially opening new therapeutic avenues for preventing and treating neonates with NEC.
