title: Co-occurrence of celiac disease and other autoimmune diseases in celiacs and their first-degree relatives.
abstract: The occurrence of other autoimmune diseases in celiac disease families has not been previously reported in a North American population. We investigated the familial aggregation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis/juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JRA/JIA), hypothyroidism, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), and alopecia areata (AA) among individuals in families with celiac disease (CD). Family history information, obtained from questionnaires from the University of California Irvine Celiac Disease study, was reviewed for reports of RA, JRA/JIA, hypothyroidism, IDDM, and AA in celiac disease cases and their first-degree relatives. Reports of disease were compared with prevalence data from the literature and analyzed by calculating the standardized ratio (SR) with 95% confidence limits. We analyzed: (1) subjects with confirmed celiac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis (205 probands and 203 affected first-degree relatives) and (2) first-degree relatives of celiac disease cases (n=1272). We found a significantly increased number of cases, relative to the expected number, of IDDM in both groups and hypothyroidism among subjects with celiac disease. JRA/JIA was increased among first-degree relatives of celiacs. These results indicate that the presence of IDDM within our celiac disease families may be due to shared genetic susceptibility predisposing to these diseases or autoimmune diseases in general.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of California Irvine, 224 Irvine Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-7550, USA. sneuhaus@uci.edu
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Neuhausen
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mousavi
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Osann
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Flodman
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Zone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology