Screening and Treatment Outcomes in Adults and Children with Type 1 Diabetes and Asymptomatic Celiac Disease

Celiac.com 06/09/2020 - What can science tell us about celiac disease screening rates and glycemic outcomes of a gluten-free diet in patients with type 1 diabetes who are asymptomatic for celiac disease?

A team of researchers recently set out to assess the issue and get some answers. The research team included Farid H. Mahmud, Antoine B.M. Clarke, Kariym C. Joachim, Esther Assor, Charlotte McDonald, Fred Saibil, Heather A. Lochnan, Zubin Punthakee, Amish Parikh, Andrew Advani, Baiju R. Shah, Bruce A. Perkins, Caroline S. Zuijdwijk, David R. Mack, Dror Koltin, Emilia N. De Melo, Eugene Hsieh, Geetha Mukerji, Jeremy Gilbert, Kevin Bax, Margaret L. Lawson, Maria Cino, Melanie D. Beaton, Navaaz A. Saloojee, Olivia Lou, Patricia H. Gallego, Premysl Bercik, Robyn L. Houlden, Ronnie Aronson, Susan E. Kirsch, William G. Paterson, and Margaret A. Marcon. They are all affiliated with the American Diabetes Association.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
The team conducted celiac disease screening on asymptomatic patients from 8 to 45 years of age. To assess changes in HbA1c, they randomly assigned biopsy-confirmed celiac disease patients to a gluten-free diet or gluten-containing diet (GCD), along with one year of glucose monitoring.

Adults tested positive for celiac disease antibodies more often than children with lower rates of prior celiac disease screening. 

Twenty-seven subjects went on the gluten-free diet, while twenty-four followed the gluten-containing diet. The team saw no HbA1c differences between the groups, though gluten-free patients showed more substantial glucose increases after meals.

Celiac disease is common in asymptomatic patients with type 1 diabetes, and the team advises clinicians to be vigilant about starting those patients on a gluten-free diet.

Read more in Diabetes Care 2020 May; dc191944.