<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hi everyone,

I received two very useful replies to my posting asking for the name of the
HLA test that will help predict whether family members of Celiacs have the
genetic potential to develop Celiac disease in the future.

The first was from Bill Elkus, one of the Listowners and this is what he
wrote to me:

You just need to ask them to check for the "DR haplotype". HLA testing
is more expensive when you check more haplotypes... there any many to
check.  Its a poor analog, but when looking at a car engine, you can
just check the oil, or you can also check the radiator, spark plugs and
carborator.

There are two DR types for each person .. one from each parent. If even
one of the two is DR3, then the person is at risk for CD. But remember
that around 25% of the entire population has DR3, too. If you are a
celiac (or your husband), and your child has DR3, then the risk is
something like 25%. We have a file on this called CEL-HLA on the main
listserv which is available for you to download.

If the result is DR5 on one side and DR7 on the other, then the child
has the same risk as if they simple had one DR3.  Its complicated why
that's true, you can read it in the above file.

If the child has NEITHER of the above scenarios, it is very very very
unlikely they will ever get CD.

Most good commercial labs can run HLA, its much more common of a test
than regular celiac testing (endomysial test).

Bill Elkus
Founder, Celiac List at St.Johns

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The second very useful reply was from John Zone who is doing research on
Celiac and this is what he wrote to me:

The benefit of HLA testing is somewhat confusing but the simplest thing to
do is to see if you are HLA DR3 (+) or not.  90 % of american celiacs are.

However 20 % of normals are also (+) and 10 % of CD patients are (-).  I
would suggest you have HLA DR testing and see what the results are.

John Zone

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There is also a Questions and Answers on HLA typing and Celiac Disease that
can be found at:
   http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/cel-hla.html

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Hope this is helpful to all the ones who also wanted this information.

Barb from NE Ohio