Celiac disease in children and adolescents with autoimmune hepatitis: a single-centre experience.
OBJECTIVE
Celiac disease (CD) is increasingly reported from North Africa, including Egypt. Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is considered a high risk factor for CD. We aimed to investigate the frequency of CD diagnosis in AIH.


METHODS
We prospectively enrolled 26 AIH patients aged 3.5-21 (mean 9.98 ± 3.94) years and 20 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. Serodiagnosis of CD was based on the most sensitive tests namely immunoglobulin A (IgA) human tissue transglutaminase antibody (IgA-tTGA) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and/or IgA endomysial antibody (IgA-EMA) by immunofluoresence and confirmed the diagnosis by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and histo-pathological findings in jejunal biopsy.


RESULTS
IgA-EMA was positive in four patients (15.4%), whereas IgA-tTGA was positive in two of them (7.7%). Histopathology was confirmatory in three (11.5%) seropositive patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The high prevalence (11.5%) of CD among Egyptian children with AIH indicates that CD exists in high-risk groups in our region and must be carefully looked into.
El-Shabrawi
Mortada
M
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, 11559, Egypt. melshabrawi@medicine.cu.edu.eg
El-Karaksy
Hanaa
H
Mohsen
Nabil
N
Isa
Mona
M
Al-Biltagi
Mohammed
M
El-Ansari
Mervat
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001706:Biopsy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007583:Jejunum / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
D001323:Autoantibodies; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D011503:Transglutaminases