Test Results

[Hinsopa]

I recently was tested and diagnosed with celiac and mast cell disease. I have read a lot, but cannot find any info on the "degree" of severity of the celiac. I am also in treatment (second time) for ovarian cancer, so I get a lot of labs.

Could you interpret this for me?

1. Celiac profile , IgA 175 ( range 66-436)

2. anti ttg IgA antibodies 12 (range .0-7)

Thanks!

[shadowicewolf]

I recently was tested and diagnosed with celiac and mast cell disease. I have read a lot, but cannot find any info on the "degree" of severity of the celiac. I am also in treatment (second time) for ovarian cancer, so I get a lot of labs.

Could you interpret this for me?

1. Celiac profile , IgA 175 ( range 66-436)

2. anti ttg IgA antibodies 12 (range .0-7)

Thanks!

Thats not the full line of blood tests. Both of the tests you've had (the total IGA and the TTG IGA) are commonly used in testing for celiac.

 

However, based on that, I'd say that further testing would be a good idea, as the TTG IGA can indicate other issues outside of celiac.

[GottaSki]

Test #1 is the Total Serum IgA which is run to make sure you have enough IgA for test #2 the tTG-IgA to be accurate. Your tTG-IgA is possitive. A complete celiac antibody panel should be run. Were you diagnosed by these two tests alone? If more testing is yet to be done, don't remove gluten until they are complete.

As for severity...the amount of antibodies measured in the blood does not necessarily correlate to severity. The endoscopic biopsy can be used to measure damage.

Once testing is complete it is time to remove all gluten from your diet.

The good news is the change in diet to mostly whole, non-processed foods can be of help to your other medical concerns.

Welcome to the forum!

[nvsmom]

I agree with Lisa and Shadowicewolf: that wasn't the full celiac panel. In about 5% of positive tTG IgA  cases, the cause is diabetes, colitis or chron's, liver disease, or thyroiditis. Usually these cases seem to occur when the ttG IgA is barely elevated. Yours is almost double the upper range so chances are (and I am only guessing as someone who has read a fair bit about this, and not as an expert) that your positive is caused by celiac disease.

 

If you want further testing, these are the rest of the tests:

• tTG IgG
• DGP IgA and DGP IgG (a newer and very reliable test often good for catching early cases or recent gluten exposures)
• EMA IgA (tends to indicate celiac disease that has gone untreated for quite some time)
• AGA IgA and IgG  (shows a gliadin sensitivity and is though by "some" to work for both celiac disease and non-celiac gluten intolerance (NCGI))
• endoscopic biopsy

Make sure you are eating gluten in the weeks prior to testing.

 

Symptoms sometimes don't correlate with lab numbers... I would go as far as saying that they often don't match up. In my own mind, there is no "severity" of celiac disease. You either have a gluten intolerance or you don't, and symptoms will vary.

 

And welcome to the board!