title: Screening for celiac disease in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients: a serum anti-transglutaminase-based approach.
abstract: Several studies have shown the existence of an association between celiac disease (CD) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Our aim was to evaluate the usefulness of the serum anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) antibody assay in screening for CD in consecutive NHL patients. In all, 80 consecutive patients (median age 61 years) with a new diagnosis of NHL were included. To compare the frequency of CD and of positive results for the anti-tTG assay, we enrolled 500 blood donors. In all patients serum anti-tTG was determined with two different ELISA: one based on tTG from guinea pig (gp-tTG) and the other based on human recombinant t-TG (h-tTG) as the antigens. Serum anti-endomysial antibodies (EmA) were also assayed. Subjects with positive serum EmA and/or anti-tTG underwent intestinal biopsy for histology study, HLA-DQ phenotype determination, and serum anti-gliadin (AGA) assay. Eight of 80 (10%) NHL patients were positive for anti-tTG ELISA--two of these exclusively for anti-gp-tTG and six for anti-h-tTG (7.5%). None of the 80 NHL patients were positive for serum EmA. The frequency of anti-tTG positivity in the blood donor controls was 2/500 (0.4%), significantly lower than that observed in the NHL patients (P < 0.0001). Both these blood donors were found to have CD. Only in one anti-h-tTG-positive NHL patient was there intestinal mucosa atrophy, and follow-up confirmed a CD diagnosis (CD frequency in NHL patients is 1.2%; versus blood donors: P = 0.4). In all the other seven anti-tTG-positive NHL patients a normal intestinal architecture was found, although, inflammatory infiltration of the lamina propria was observed in four patients. No anti-tTG-positive NHL patients, including the subject diagnosed as having CD, had a family history of CD, and all had normal weight and no signs of malabsorption. Anti-tTG false positive results were associated with a higher frequency of serum autoantibody positivity and T-cell type NHL. In conclusion, NHL patients the anti-tTG assay often gives discordant data with the EmA assay, with a high frequency of anti-tTG false positive results for CD diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carroccio
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Iannitto
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Prima
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cirrincione
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Troncone
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paparo
authors.forename: Lydia Gianni
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Trapani
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gucciardi
authors.forename: Maurizio R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Averna
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Montalto
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Notarbartolo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001706:Biopsy; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D004386:Duodenum / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D005903:Gliadin / Q000276:immunology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D005903:Gliadin; D011503:Transglutaminases