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With all the heat on biopsies lately, this Cuban/Spanish research article
is free at http://www.thelancet.com/ if you are registered with The
Lancet.  It suggests that there is an inexpensive accurate test to diagnose
celiac disease without a biopsy:

One-step immunochromatographic assay for screening of coeliac disease
Luis Sorell, Jose A Garrote, Boris Acevedo, Eduardo Arranz

Tissue transglutaminase is the autoantigen that elicits
endomysial antibodies, which are the serological hallmarks of
coeliac disease. We describe a simple, rapid immunochromato-graphic
assay for IgA and IgG antibodies to transglutaminase,
which is highly accurate for diagnosis of this disease. Results
were positive for all samples from 50 untreated coeliac
patients, and negative for 40 non-coeliac patients with
gastrointestinal disorders. The assay seems to be a useful
alternative to biopsy for mass screening for coeliac disease.

Lancet 2002; 359: 945–46 (March 16, 2002)

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *