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Does anyone have experience of Crohn's disease with possible "non-coeliac"gluten-sensitivity? 

A friend's 16 year old son, recently diagnosed with Crohn's, appears to be gluten sensitive although his tests for coeliac disease have been negative.

This boy has had for some years classic coeliac-like gut symptoms including diagnosed fat malabsorption, tiredness and irritability (as well as severe dyslexia), and he responded well to a 6 month wheat-free diet but his blood (EmA) and biopsy tests were negative (after only a short gluten challenge for the latter).  He has now been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease by barium enteroscopy (barium meal) after a negative colonoscopy. There is some IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disorders) in the family. 

He appears to react with classic symptoms to gluten but not gluten-free wheat starch suggesting a sensitivity to gluten rather than wheat but his diet is not currently strict in terms of contamination.

Most cases of Crohn's are not diet responsive, so to instigate a strict gluten-free diet (possibly medically prescribed) and perhaps avoid more aggressive steroid therapy for the time being, the family will need some clinical as well as anecdotal evidence of its effectiveness in cerain cases.

Are there documented cases of clinically diagnosed seronegative coeliac with Crohn's - or perhaps "non-coeliac gluten sensitivity" with Crohn's or ulcerative colitis?  How might an overlap of the conditions affect diagnosis, prognosis or treatment?

Charlotte, Oxford, UK

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