title: Seroprevalence of coeliac disease in at-risk subjects at the main tertiary hospital, southwest of Saudi Arabia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Coeliac disease (CD) is a gluten-induced autoimmune inflammation of small bowel villi, leading to atrophy and malabsorption. The current study aims to assess the prevalence of CD in high-risk subjects in the Aseer region, southwest of Saudi Arabia and to investigate the associated presentations.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a retrospective case-finding study of the laboratory records for a 3-year period (2009-2012) at the main tertiary hospital (Aseer Central Hospital). Serum anti-tissue transglutaminase (atTG) and endomysial antibody (EmA) levels were determined along with small intestinal histopathological examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of cases that tested positive for at least one coeliac antibody marker was 18.4% (58/315). Forty cases underwent endoscopic examination during the analysis, among which 22 were confirmed to have CD. The individual antibody positivity for atTG and EmA was 17.5% and 15.6%, respectively. The most common clinical condition (47%) associated with these markers was type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Interestingly, gastrointestinal presentations constituted only 11.5%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rate of CD among hospital requests, including non-gastrointestinal symptomatic patients, at the Aseer main tertiary hospital seems to be high. Determining the prevalence of CD and also investigating the high-risk group commonly affected by CD warrant more screening studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Clinical Parasitology, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ahmed M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Al-Hakami
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D001827:Body Height; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D000091345:Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D000091345:Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2; D011503:Transglutaminases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins
keywords: Anti-tissue transglutaminase (atTG); Aseer region; CD prevalence in Saudi Arabia; Coeliac disease; Endomysial (EmA) antibodies