School-age Children in Italy Have Some of the Highest Celiac Rates in the World

Celiac.com 04/26/2023 - Celiac disease is a common chronic disorder, but there's a lack of information on its current prevalence and detection rate. To get a better picture of the actual situation on the ground, a research team conducted a mass screening of school-ages children in Italy to assess the prevalence and detection rate of celiac disease among school-age children in Italy using a multi-center mass screening approach.

The team included Elena Lionetti, Dorina Pjetraj a, Simona Gatti a, Giulia Catassi, Antonella Bellantoni c, Massimo Boffardi, Mara Cananzi, Mauro Cinquetti j, Ruggiero Francavilla, Basilio Malamisura, Monica Montuori, Gianvincenzo Zuccotti, Fernanda Cristofori, Paola Gaio, Tiziana Passaro, Francesca Penagini, Alessandra Testa, Chiara Maria Trovato, and Carlo Catassi.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
Nearly 6,000 children were eligible for the study, 4.438 participated and nearly 2,000 showed predisposing haplotypes for celiac disease. 

The team used HLA-DQ2 and -DQ8 determination on a drop of blood and total serum IgA and IgA anti-transglutaminase to determine the diagnosis of celiac disease, as per the European guidelines. 

The overall prevalence of celiac disease was 1.65%, with only 40% of children diagnosed prior to the school screening. Interestingly, symptoms of celiac disease were as common in celiac children as in control subjects. 

The study revealed that the rate of celiac disease in school-age Italian children was one of the highest in the world, and without a mass screening strategy, 60% of celiac patients remain currently undiagnosed in Italy.

This highlights the importance of mass screening strategies and early detection of celiac disease to reduce the burden of the disease and its associated complications. 

The study also showed that determination of HLA predisposing genotypes is an easy and fast first-level screening test for celiac disease, which can be used to identify children who require further diagnostic testing.

Read more in Science Direct

The researchers are variously affiliated with the Division of Pediatrics and Center for Celiac Research, DISCO Department, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy; the Pediatric Gastroenterology and Liver Unit, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Sapienza-University of Rome, Rome, Italy; the Department of Pediatrics, Bianchi-Melacrino Morelli Hospital in Reggio Calabria, Italy; the Pediatric Unit and Center for Celiac Disease - University Hospital of Salerno, Campus of Cava de' Tirreni, Italy; the Unit of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Digestive Endoscopy, Hepatology and Care of the Child with Liver Transplantation, Dpt. of Women's and Children's Health, University Hospital of Padova, Italy; the Pediatric Section, Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari, Italy; the Department of Pediatrics, Vittore Buzzi Children's Hospital at University of Milan, Italy; the Clinical Biochemistry Unit, National Research Council, Reggio Calabria, Italy; the Hepatology Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, "Bambino Gesù" Children Hospital in Rome, Italy; and the Department of Pediatrics, "G. Fracastoro" Hospital in Verona, Italy.