Blood Tests, Ana Levels

[pst424]

Has anyone had elevated ANA levels associated with celiac disease?

[skbird]

I had elevated ANA levels - 1:320, nucleolar. I have antibodies to gluten but not Celiac, so autoimmune gluten intolerance.

Evidently, ANA can be associated with anything, so unless they are pretty high, it doesn't mean a whole lot.

Stephanie

[Guest jhmom]

ANA is associated with Lupus and other Autoimmune disease, take a look at this website, it explains it a bit better:

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An ANA of 80 and above is considered positive and anything higher than 160 is something to have checked out and investigated. From what I have read a positive ANA has nothing to do with Celiac. I had an ANA of 640 and was recently dx with Lupus. I would talk to your doctor and see if he/she thinks it could be Celiac related. I hope this helps.

Additional information on ANA's:

The pattern of the ANA test can sometimes be helpful in determining which autoimmune disease is present and which treatment program is appropriate. The homogeneous (smooth) pattern is found in a variety of connective tissue diseases as well as in patients taking particular drugs such as certain anti-arrhythmics, anti-convulsants or anti-hypertensives. This pattern is also the pattern that is most commonly seen in healthy individuals who have positive ANA tests.

The speckled pattern is found in SLE and other connective tissue diseases, while the peripheral (or rim) pattern is found almost exclusively in SLE. The nucleolar (a pattern with a few large spots) pattern is found primarily in patients who have scleroderma.

ANA Titers and Patterns

ANA laboratory reports include a titer (pronounced TY-tur) and a pattern.

The titer indicates how many times the lab technician had to dilute plasma from the blood to get a sample free of the antinuclear antibodies.

For example, a titer of 1:640 shows a greater concentration of anti-nuclear antibodies than a titer of 1:320 or 1:160.

The apparent great difference between various titers can be misleading.

Since each dilution involves doubling the amount of test fluid, it is not surprising that titer numbers increase rather rapidly.

In actuality, the difference between a 1:160 titer and a 1:320 titer is only a single dilution. This does not necessarily represent a major difference in disease activity.

ANA titers go up and down during the course of the disease, and a high or low titer does not necessarily mean the disease is more or less active. Therefore, it is not always possible to determine the activity of the disease from the ANA titer.

A titer above 1:80 is usually considered positive.

Some laboratories may interpret different titer levels as positive, so one cannot compare titers from different laboratories.

[julie5914]

I recently had an ANA test come back as 1:160 speckled. Because I do not have 4 of the listed characteristics of lupus, my doc decided to watch and wait. I will just have it rechecked in a while. I was showing some mild signs of Reynaud's at the time of testing, which my doc prescribed blood pressure medicine for. After a while on the meds though, I decided the side-effects of the meds were worse than cold toes and stopped taking them. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.