Quick Question On Recent Blood Test

[Jessica2813]

Hi everyone,

 

I was wondering if someone could please give me their opinions on the results from my blood panel for celiac disease:

 

1. Deamidated Gliadin Abs, IgA = 28

                        Negative = 0-19

                        Weak Positive = 20-30

                        Moderate to Strong Positive > 30

1. tTG IgA = <2

Negative = 0 -3

Weak Positive = 4-10

Positive = >10

1. Immunoglobulin A, Qn, Serum = 476

Value Range = 91-414

 

On a lot of different sites, I have read that the IgA could be deficient but nothing on the instance of it being on the high side.  Does that indicate that the demidated gliadin abs, IgA is a false positive?  I have no clue how to interrupt the data in correlation to each other. 

 

Additionally,  I am only deficient in Vitamin D. 

 

I would greatly like to hear what others might have learned so thanks for any help!

[cyclinglady]

Well, I am not an expert, nor am I a doctor, but you did test positive on one of the test specific to gluten/celiac disease. I too, tested "mildly positive" and my biopsy via endoscopy showed moderate to severe damage. My only known symptom was anemia. I was shocked!

Keep eating gluten until all testing is complete.

[SMRI]

A high IgA should be sent on for other testing.  Your next step would be to see an immunologist and get more testing done to see what is causing your high IgA.

[nvsmom]

The positive deaminated gliadin test (DGP IgA) is very specific to celiac disease - somewhere around 95% of all positives are caused by celiac disease (as seen on page 12 of this report: Open Original Shared Link).  A positive DGP IgA most likely means celiac disease.

 

The tTG IgA tests is also very specific to celiac disease but it can have a low sensitivity; it can miss as many as 25% of all celiacs.  Having one positive test and another negative test would still point towards celiac disease.

 

There are a few other tests you could try, most conspicuously absent were the IgG based tests.  Here are the other tests:

DGP IgG

tTG IgG

EMA IgA

AGA IgA and AGA IgG (these are older and less reliable tests)

 

Don't go gluten-free until you are satisfied that your testing is done.

 

Not all celiacs are nutritionally deficient.  My nutrient levels were all fine, B12 was even high, except for a borderline low vitamin A.  Low D is common among celiacs. Other possible lows could occur with B12, A, K, Fe, Mg, Ca, ferritin, zinc, and Cu.

 

I don't know much about an elevated IgA. I did a quick search and found a few possible causes.  You may want to look at elevated IgA causes and ask your doctor if it is a concern.

 

Welcome to the board and best wishes.  

[Solandra]

I have similar test results:

 

IgA, Serum - 357 (70-310 is normal)

Gliadin Ab, IgA 22 (0-19 is normal)

TTG Ab, IgA 5 (0-19)

TTG Ab, IgG 4 (0-19)

 

The high serum on mine is possibly because I have another autoimmune disease, Hashimoto's. You should get checked for other autoimmune diseases, and assume you have Celiac and get further testing if you so choose. I never got the biopsy.. but I tried a gluten challenge and felt like I had come down with the flu. So I'm just going to operate under the assumption the my blood tests are accurate, since doing a challenge would make me very ill!

 

Now... I'm wondering about mine again. This was taken about two and a half years ago. Have the guidelines for TTG changed? It looks like anything about 2 is a positive (my doc says, a weak positive is still a positive). So I guess there's little doubt about my status.

[nvsmom]

I have similar test results:

 

IgA, Serum - 357 (70-310 is normal)

Gliadin Ab, IgA 22 (0-19 is normal)

TTG Ab, IgA 5 (0-19)

TTG Ab, IgG 4 (0-19)

 

The high serum on mine is possibly because I have another autoimmune disease, Hashimoto's. You should get checked for other autoimmune diseases, and assume you have Celiac and get further testing if you so choose. I never got the biopsy.. but I tried a gluten challenge and felt like I had come down with the flu. So I'm just going to operate under the assumption the my blood tests are accurate, since doing a challenge would make me very ill!

 

Now... I'm wondering about mine again. This was taken about two and a half years ago. Have the guidelines for TTG changed? It looks like anything about 2 is a positive (my doc says, a weak positive is still a positive). So I guess there's little doubt about my status.

 

I don't believe high serum IgA is linked to Hashimoto's - I've never read that. It's possible that I might have missed that but I don't think so. If you have more info and sources on that, I would like to see it if you can share it.  

 

Hashimoto's can cause slightly elevated tTG IgA so perhaps that is what you are thinking of?

 

Labs for tTG IgA, and the other celiac disease tests, can vary quite a bit.  I have seen normal reference ranges of 0-1, 0-4, 0-10, and the more common 0-20.  The normal range really depends on your lab.  Mine is 0-20.

 

Your gliadin Ab, IgA (I'm assuming it is the older AGA IgA a.k.a. anti gliadin antibodies) is high and that is usually a sign of celiac disease or possibly (with this test) non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).  Either one is not a good thing and needs to be treated with the gluten-free diet.  It is not the most reliable test out there, it misses a lot of celiacs so it means something that it caught you.... And remember that it is not that unusual to have positive and negative tests on a celiac disease blood panel; a negative test does not always rule out celiac disease... I think you are smart to stick with the gluten-free diet.  

 

Best wishes.

[Solandra]

Thanks for the info! You know, I've read so many things, that I can't remember where I read that autoimmune diseases can throw off the serum levels. Sorry. =/

[Jessica2813]

Hi everyone,

 

I just wanted to relay the news that I have been to see a GI Specialist recently (due to heartburn/gerd). 

 

Since I was already there I decided to ask about the test results.  He told me that having the weak positive on the Deamidated Gliadin Abs, IgA was like receiving absolutely no data back from the test.  They look more at the tTG IgA for a diagnosis.

 

In the long run, however, I will be able to rule it out since I still have to have a biopsy done for the gerd testing.  I am sorry that I don’t have better news.  Will post again after I have had the endoscope done and receive the test results.

 

Thanks again everyone for the helpful insights!!!

[sweetpeas327]

Hi everyone,

 

I was wondering if someone could please give me their opinions on the results from my blood panel for celiac disease:

 

1. Deamidated Gliadin Abs, IgA = 28

                        Negative = 0-19

                        Weak Positive = 20-30

                        Moderate to Strong Positive > 30

1. tTG IgA = <2

Negative = 0 -3

Weak Positive = 4-10

Positive = >10

1. Immunoglobulin A, Qn, Serum = 476

Value Range = 91-414

 

On a lot of different sites, I have read that the IgA could be deficient but nothing on the instance of it being on the high side.  Does that indicate that the demidated gliadin abs, IgA is a false positive?  I have no clue how to interrupt the data in correlation to each other. 

 

Additionally,  I am only deficient in Vitamin D. 

 

I would greatly like to hear what others might have learned so thanks for any help!

Do you happen to have the units of measure for your results?  I'm trying to interpret mine by doing a ton of research, but it's confusing comparing US to Canadian results as oftentimes they're using different units!  Doing a lot of converting the numbers!  Thanks!!

[SMRI]

Do you happen to have the units of measure for your results?  I'm trying to interpret mine by doing a ton of research, but it's confusing comparing US to Canadian results as oftentimes they're using different units!  Doing a lot of converting the numbers!  Thanks!!

 

The units of measurement are irrelevant given she posted the normal range scale.  Medical personnel in the US use metric measurements so there should not be any conversion issues.  The issue with the Canadian tests is that they don't do a full panel so you just have different tests done.