Celiac.com 08/11/2009 - While the use of anti-tTG antibodies is common practice in the diagnosis of celiac disease, their value in long-term follow-up remains controversial. A team of researchers recently set out to assess the value of anti-tTG antibodies in long-term follow-up.

The research team was made up of C.R. Dipper, S. Maitra, R. Thomas, C.A. Lamb, A.P.C. McLean-Tooke, R. Ward, D. Smith, G. Spickett, and J.C. Mansfield. Their goal was to see if they could use serial anti-tTG antibody levels to gauge adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD) and to spot patients facing complications from celiac disease.

Researchers conducted a cohort follow-up study of 182 adult subjects over 54-months. The team charted patient self-assessment of gluten-free diet adherence; anti-tTG antibody concentration and serum ferritin, vitamin B12 and folate. When possible, they measured bone mineral density (BMD) and duodenal histology.

The team found that patients with persistently high anti-tTG antibody levels commonly showed abnormal duodenal histology (P < 0.001), low ferritin (P < 0.01) and poor adherence to the GFD (P < 0.001).

Anti-tTG antibody specificity was > 85% while the sensitivity was 39–60%. Anti-tTG antibody concentrations fell rapidly following successful implementation of a gluten-free diet, and remained normal in those who faithfully followed the gluten-free diet.

From these results, the team advocates the use of anti-tTG antibody concentrations to monitor newly diagnosed and established patients with celiac disease, and to target dietary intervention accordingly to reduce the risk of long-term problems.


Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2009;30(3):236-244.
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