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J Pediatr. 2004 May;144(5):632-6

Tissue transglutaminase autoantibody detection in human saliva: A powerful
method for celiac disease screening.

Bonamico M, Ferri M, Nenna R, Verrienti A, Di Mario U, Tiberti C.

Institute of Paediatrics and Department of Clinical Science, University of
Rome "La Sapienza," Italy.

OBJECTIVE: To test the possibility of detecting tissue transglutaminase
autoantibodies (tTG-Abs) in saliva with a novel sensitive fluid-phase
radioimmunoassay (RIA).Study design Paired saliva and serum samples from 39
patients with celiac disease (CD), at the first biopsy (Group 1: 28
females, mean age 11.5 +/- 11.1 years); 32 controls with a normal duodenal
mucosa (Group 2: 18 females, mean age 8.1 +/- 3.6 years); and 32 healthy
volunteers (Group 3: 21 females, mean age 31.7 +/- 9.8 years) were studied
for tTG-Ab presence. Limit of positivity for salivary assay was calculated
according to the 99th percentiles of Group 2 control children and was
expressed as an autoantibody (Ab) index. RESULTS: Salivary tTG-Abs were
found in 97.4% of the patients with CD and in 100% of the corresponding
serum samples. All Group 3 subjects were negative with both saliva and
serum assays. A correlation between saliva and serum tTG-Ab titers was
found (r=0.826, P=.0014). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that it is
possible to detect salivary tTG-Abs in CD with a non-invasive, simple to
perform, reproducible and sensitive method.

PMID: 15126998 [PubMed]

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