15 yr old daughter celiac?

[monicameme]

I've been here for a couple months because my son was just diagnosed with celiac.  So we all got tested.  My daughter is 15 and for a few months she has not been consuming much gluten at all.  So i'm not sure how accurate these tests are but it looks like she may have celiac as well.    Here are her labs, please help me interpret them. 

Endomysial antibody Iga- negative

t-Transglutaminase (tTG) <2    range 0-13 negative

Immunoglubulin A, Q, Serum  274   high,  range 51-220

Antigliadin Abs, IgA, Deamidate Gliadin Abs, 21 high,   range 20-30 weak positive

Antigliadin Abs, IgG, Deamidate Gliadin Abs, 3,  range 0-19 negative. 

[RMJ]

The immunoglobulin A is a control test, not a test for celiac.  Of the celiac tests, she just has one that is barely a weak positive.  You may want to have her eat more gluten (perhaps away from home) and retest in 6 to 12 months.

[monicameme]

28 minutes ago, RMJ said:

The immunoglobulin A is a control test, not a test for celiac.  Of the celiac tests, she just has one that is barely a weak positive.  You may want to have her eat more gluten (perhaps away from home) and retest in 6 to 12 months.

Thanks, I've put a call into the GI and i suspect she will say the same.  I can try to have her eat more but she naturally just doesn't want many things with gluten.  Does the control test suggest a different auto immune disease maybe?

 

[squirmingitch]

No, the control test is to verify that she will react to that particular type of test. If she didn't, then certain of the bloods would not be applicable to her. They would be false negatives.

As far as tests being weak positives, that's like being a little pregnant. A positive is a positive. Period.

Since she does have one positive that is enough to move forward with an endoscopic biopsy but you really need to make sure she eats at least a 1/2 slice of gluten bread per day for a minimum of 2 weeks before the endoscopy. 

 

[cyclinglady]

Your daughter does not have a strong positive.  I suspect that the GI might do as RMJ suggested which would be to load her up on gluten for six months and retest.  On the other hand, with a diagnosed sibling and a very mild positive, your GI might recommend the endoscopy or run the test again to make sure there were no errors.      Together,  you and your doctor can decide what is best for your daughter.  

My daughter tested negative but she had been consuming gluten daily.  I still make sure that she consumes gluten at school and while away from home.  If she wants a donut, she eats it on the porch!  When we test her again, it can not be after a summer because she has been on very light gluten diet.  

The control test?  It is elevated, but not a lot.  So, I would not worry.  Your lab range might be have a lot of people with a lower IGA.  At my lab, the range max is around 400.  

[ironictruth]

Yes, that could easily be a false positive.  there is plenty of research on folks with perfect biopsies, even those who are genetically negative for celiac disease, with positive DGP results. By the same token, the test also picks up a lot of folks with celiac.

 

But as others have said, with a family history it is good to load up on gluten and pursue the endoscopy. How was your son diagnosed? Many folks here will testify to the fact that reactions to gluten can be much much worse when you have finally given it up. But that DGP IGA test  is likely to come back negative if run again  and you don't want to put your daughter on a strict diet for no reason.

 I was like that as well before my first gluten challenge, I didn't eat that much of it. I would like pizza and pasta but only occasionally.  After I gave it up I had to do two gluten challenges In two years, the second one was three months long. I ate donuts, cookies, pizza, pasta, you name it.  if she doesn't want to do that you could probably get away with a piece of toast or waffle with peanut butter on it in the morning.

Good luck! 

[monicameme]

thank you guys.  I'm hoping the Gi will call back tomorrow.  I'm getting  the kitchen totally gluten free, except for a few things my sister who is a bit disabled is going to have.  But no bread, flour, pasta and most other things will not have gluten.  And my daughter doesn't go to school, she does homeschooling so her opportunity to eat gluten won't be great.  So it sounds like i will have to try to keep something little for her also to eat daily.  Hopefully it's a false positive!