<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Hi Gang, Here's a brief summary of my question on testing/websites. Sorry it took so long to summarize. Work lately has had me swamped! Previously, I wrote: I am an undiagnosed celiac (GF for two years) and recently approached my doctor about it. She wanted to give me the antibody blood tests to test for celiac sprue. When I mentioned that one must be on a gluten-containing diet for the tests to come out positive, she said no, one didn't. She stated that the antibodies live in the body for years. However, she promised (and she was very genuine) to send me some articles on this subject. So I was wondering if anyone knew of a good medical website stating that a patient needs to be on a gluten-containing diet in order to test positive so that I could send her info too. I'd like to educate another doctor concerning celiac, especially since this one seems willing to learn. Well, here's a few suggestions I received. Special thanks goes out to Vance and Dr. Nelson for the long emails both of them sent me. If anyone is interested in those I'll pass them along if you ask for them. But basically here's the summary: www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/diag-tst.html#US www.aafp.org/afp/980301ap/pruessn.html http://forums.delphi.com/n/main.asp?webtag=celiac&nav=messages and ask Chris. She has a background in this topic and is very kind and knowledgeable. www.celiac.com You might try www.celiac.com/treat.html (a 27 page article on diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease) or www.celiac.com/frequent.html (a 23 page article of frequently asked questions about CD) or www.enterolab (Dr. Fine's website) for alternate testing methods. There is an excellent, although technical article written by Joseph Murray,MD in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/69/3/354?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10& RESULTFORMAT=&author1=Murray%2C+J&titleabstract=Celiac&searchid= QID_NOT_SET&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=&fdate=1/1/1998 www.celiac.ca and www.gflinks.com Article: Branski D, Troncone R. Celiac disease: A reappraisal. J of Peds 1998; 133(2):181-187. Catassi C, Ratsch I-M, Fabiani E, et al. Coeliac disease in the year 2000: exploring the iceberg. Lancet 1994; 343(8891):200-203. Van De Wal Y, Kooy Y, Van Veelen P, Vader W, Koning F, Pena S. Coeliac disease: it takes three to tango! Gut 2000; 46(5):734-737. (theoretical) Feighery C. Fortnightly review: Coeliac disease. BMJ 1999; 319(7204):236-239. Accession Number 00003455-199910000-00030. Author Fotoulaki, maria md; nousia-arvanitakis, sanda md, dch, faap; Augoustidou-savvopoulou, persephone md; kanakoudi-tsakalides, FLORENDIA MD; ZARAMBOUKAS, THOMAS MD; VLACHONIKOLIS, JOHN MA, DPhil Institution From the 4th Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Biochemistry Laboratory and Immunology Laboratory, 1st Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Department of Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; and Department of Biostatistics, University of Crete, Greece. Title Clinical Application of Immunological Markers as Monitoring Tests in Celiac Disease.[Miscellaneous Article] Source Digestive Diseases & Sciences. 44(10):2133-2138, October 1999. Local Message *ALL AT: UAMS, PART AT: LRVA (CHECK LRVA LIST)* Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate anti-gliadin (IgA-AGA and IgG-AGA), endomysial (IgA-EmA), and anti-reticulin (Ig-ARA) antibodies for monitoring celiac disease (CD) patients while on gluten-free and gluten-containing diets. Sera from 30 confirmed CD patients (13 boys, 17 girls), 1-24 years old, were examined for antibodies using ELISA (AGA) and Immunofluorescence (EmA, ARA) at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months following institution of gluten- free diet and also at 3 and 6 months after challenge with gluten. One month following the exclusion of gluten from the diet, most antibodies are still positive. Twenty-three to 43% of antibodies remained positive by the end of the third month. At 6 and 9 months, 17% and 10% were positive, respectively. At 12 months no positive antibodies were detected. After gluten challenge, positive IgA-AGA and IgA-EmA titers were already demonstrated at 3 months (90% and 86%, respectively), while Ig-ARA titers showed a slow increase. Finally IgG-AGA responded with a slow decrease of titers to gluten-free diet levels and a fast increase upon provocation. The morphology of the intestine at diagnosis and during the periods of gluten-free diet and gluten challenge corresponds with the antibody titers. On the basis of these results, immunological markers may be applied to follow-up CD patients. IgA-AGA and IgA-EMA appear to be the most sensitive to dietary changes in gluten and correlate best with intestinal mucosal morphology. Good luck! Dawn Los Angeles