Salivary and serum IgA antigliadin antibodies in dermatitis herpetiformis.
Serum IgA class antigliadin antibodies (IgA-AGA) are increased in untreated patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), and it has been suggested that salivary IgA-AGA measurements could be used as a non-invasive screening test for gluten-sensitive enteropathy. In the present study salivary and serum IgA-AGA were measured by an ELISA test in 10 untreated patients with DH. The results were compared to IgA-AGA levels in nine patients with DH on a long-term gluten-free diet (GFD) and in 20 healthy control subjects on an ordinary diet. The mean serum but not salivary IgA-AGA concentrations were significantly higher in the untreated than in the patients with DH on a long-term GFD. When the 10 untreated patients with DH adhered to a GFD for 3 months, the rash disappeared and the mean serum IgA-AGA decreased to normal levels, but no change was found in the mean salivary IgA-AGA concentration. These results show that serum but not salivary IgA-AGA measurements are suitable for monitoring GFD treatment in patients with DH. The discrepancy between the serum and salivary IgA-AGA concentrations suggests that systemic and salivary IgA-AGA responses are controlled separately.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Finland.
P
P
Patinen
F
F
Björksten
M
M
Malmström
E
E
Savilahti
T
T
Reunala
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D003874:Dermatitis Herpetiformis / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005903:Gliadin / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012463:Saliva / Q000276:immunology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory; D005903:Gliadin