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

Thank you so much to everyone who replied to my question regarding blood tests for CD.  I received over 15 requests to summarize, so guess this is an interesting topic for several of us.

Many of the responses noted to ensure that the person must be consuming gluten in order for the tests to be accurate.  Also, many labs are not equipped to run these blood tests accurately, so ensure that your physician is sending your blood to a lab that specializes in these tests.  Anyone who tests positive should have an endoscopic biopsy to confirm diagnosis.

Interpretation of the test result depends on what the normal reference range for that laboratory is.  Therefore, it is hard to say what is normal and what is not, when you don't know what reference ranges for that particular lab are.  

A nice tip someone sent me... ask for a copy of the lab report so that you can see what the normal ranges are for the lab that is running your test.

As a general note, these lab tests are looking for antibodies to gluten, and therefore, may not give an accurate for a diagnosis if someone is already maintaining a gluten free diet.  

Tests include:

1.  IgA antigliadin antibodies

2.  IgG antigliadin antibodies

3. Antiendomysial IgA

4. Tissue Transglutaminase  IgA

5. Total Serum IgA  (note.. many people forget to run this test, so be sure to ask for it.  It is important because a significant percentage of people with celiac disease have selective IgA deficiency and don't make enough IgA to make the test valid and might conclude an incorrect diagnosis). 

Thanks again for all your information!

Christine
Atlanta, GA

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