Article Title

Serologic testing for celiac disease in young people with elevated transaminases

Authors

JUANLI YUAN
JINYAN GAO
YONGHONG YAO
HONGBING CHEN

DOI

10.3906/sag-1403-127

Abstract

Background/aim: A cryptogenic elevation of transaminases is the most common hepatic manifestation in celiac disease (CD). In adult patients and pediatric patients with cryptogenic hypertransaminasemia, the prevalence of CD was 4% and 12%, respectively. However, there are no related data from China in this regard. We aimed to investigate the status of CD in young Chinese patients with elevated transaminases. Materials and methods: A total of 125 patients with elevated transaminases and 125 healthy individuals as controls with matched age and sex were involved in the study. Serum markers of hepatitis B were determined in patients with elevated transaminases. All subjects were screened for CD by testing serum IgA antitissue transglutaminase antibodies (anti-tTG IgA), and total serum IgA was determined in order to rule out IgA deficiency. Results: None of the subjects were seropositive to IgA anti-tTG antibodies. No association between CD and elevated transaminases was found. Hepatitis B viral infections were one of the main causes of raised transaminases. Conclusion: Before the exclusion of every known cause of raised transaminase levels, routine serological screening for CD should not be recommended for patients who only present elevated transaminases.

Keywords

Celiac disease, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferases, hepatitis B virus

First Page

668

Last Page

673

Recommended Citation

YUAN, JUANLI; GAO, JINYAN; YAO, YONGHONG; and CHEN, HONGBING (2015) "Serologic testing for celiac disease in young people with elevated transaminases," Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences: Vol. 45: No. 3, Article 30. https://doi.org/10.3906/sag-1403-127
Available at: https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/medical/vol45/iss3/30