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Jefferson Adams

Jefferson Adams is a freelance writer living in San Francisco. His
poems and essays have appeared in Antioch Review, Blue Mesa Review,
CALIBAN, Hayden's Ferry Review, and The Mississippi Review, among others.


Simple Saliva Test Offers Promise for Monitoring Celiac Disease


Celiac.com 11/03/2008 - Blood testing for radioimmunoassay (RIA)
tissue transglutaminase auto-antibodies (tTG-Abs) has proven to be a
sensitive test for celiac disease follow-up. Recent studies have shown
that RIA can accurately detect tTG-Abs in human saliva. However, not
much is known about reliability of this method for monitoring the
progress of celiac disease over time in patients who are attempting to
follow a gluten-free diet.

A team of researchers recently set out to assess salivary RIA tTG-Abs
in celiac children on gluten-free diet. The research team included
doctors M. Bonamico, R. Nenna, R.P.L. Luparia, C. Perricone, M.
Montuori, F. Lucantoni, A. Castronovo, S. Mura; A. Turchetti, P.
Strappini, and C. Tiberti.

The team evaluated blood and saliva samples taken from 109 children at
the time of their diagnosis for celiac disease. The first group
included 71 females, with an average age of 9.4 years. A second group
included 58 people who were following a gluten-free diet. The second
group was broken into two subgroups: group 2a with 36 patients
assessed at 3-6 months; and group 2b with 34 patients at 9 months or
more (group 2b).

The research team also included two control groups matched for age and
sex. Group 3 included 89 gastroenterological patients, while group 4
included 49 healthy subjects. The team used RIA to detect tTG-Abs in
saliva and blood, and compared the results against two other
established tests: serum tTG-Abs ELISA and IgA anti-endomysium
antibodies (EMA).

The team detected salivary RIA tTG-Abs in 94.5% of patients from group
1, 66.7% of celiac patients from group 2a, and 50.0% from 2b. They
detected blood RIA tTG-Abs in 98.2% of patients from group 1, 72.2% of
celiac patients from group 2a, and 50.0% from 2b. The longer patients
were on a gluten-free diet, the more the tTG-Abs decreased. The
research team also found a correlation between saliva and serum levels
(r = 0.75, P = 0.0001). A celiac disease follow-up showed comparable
salivary and serum RIA sensitivities, and higher levels for EMA and
ELISA methods.

The research team concluded that it is possible to measure salivary
tTG-Abs with a high level of accuracy; both at initial diagnosis for
celiac disease, and also while patients are following a gluten-free diet.

This discovery means that doctors treating people with celiac disease
might soon be able to use a simple saliva test to monitor the progress
of their patients' gluten-free diets. Such a development might take
remove much of the guesswork for celiacs who are trying to follow a
gluten-free diet, and would be particularly useful for patients who
might be asymptomatic, or who are at risk for celiac-associated
conditions.

Aliment Pharmacol Ther.  2008; 28(3): 364-370.

http://www.celiac.com/articles/21677/1/Simple-Saliva-Test-Offers-Promise-for-Monitoring-Celiac-Disease/Page1.html


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