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Tissue Transglutaminase IgA testing

VioletFemme

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VioletFemme Newbie
VioletFemme
Posted

Hi,

I have two autoimmune disorders.  I've been on medication for one of my autoimmune disorders for about 1 year and only had it under control/remission for 6 weeks out of the whole year. He's concerned that I may have celiac, have absorption issues, and thus being more sensitive to dosage.  I took the Tissue Transglutaminase IgA test, not but the full panel.  We want to see results before being subject to other tests. If I have celiac, I'm asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms. I have been anemic in the past (but not lately since I eat way more meat), but I don't know if they correlate.

My questions are:

  1. If someone has another autoimmune disorder, will they test positive even if they don't have celiac (I know positive ANA tests can mean lupus, RA, etc)?
  2. What other autoimmune disorders might test positive when taking a Tissue Transglutaminase IgA?

 

Thanks.

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cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted
51 minutes ago, VioletFemme said:

Hi,

I have two autoimmune disorders.  I've been on medication for one of my autoimmune disorders for about 1 year and only had it under control/remission for 6 weeks out of the whole year. He's concerned that I may have celiac, have absorption issues, and thus being more sensitive to dosage.  I took the Tissue Transglutaminase IgA test, not but the full panel.  We want to see results before being subject to other tests. If I have celiac, I'm asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms. I have been anemic in the past (but not lately since I eat way more meat), but I don't know if they correlate.

My questions are:

  1. If someone has another autoimmune disorder, will they test positive even if they don't have celiac (I know positive ANA tests can mean lupus, RA, etc)?
  2. What other autoimmune disorders might test positive when taking a Tissue Transglutaminase IgA?

 

Thanks.

The TTG, if mildly elevated, can be related to another autoimmune disorder.  If off the charts (very elevated) is is probably related to celiac disease.  

I would suggest that you  ask your doctor to run the complete celiac blood panel (DGP and EMA) in addition to the TTG.  Costs a bit more, but worth it.  If my GI had just run the TTG, my celiac diagnosis would have been missed.  I have never had a positive on the TTG test -- even in follow-up testing.  The TTG is good, but does not catch all celiacs.  Some celiacs are seronegative, so if this occurs and the GI suspects celiac disease, he would order an endoscopy despite negatives on the blood tests).  

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I think that  there are several AI issues that could cause of an elevated TTG besides celiac disease, but do not quote me on that.  The EMA test is very specific to celiac disease.  So, in your case, get the complete panel.  

Fbmb Rising Star
Fbmb
Posted
On 7/9/2017 at 10:25 PM, VioletFemme said:

Hi,

I have two autoimmune disorders.  I've been on medication for one of my autoimmune disorders for about 1 year and only had it under control/remission for 6 weeks out of the whole year. He's concerned that I may have celiac, have absorption issues, and thus being more sensitive to dosage.  I took the Tissue Transglutaminase IgA test, not but the full panel.  We want to see results before being subject to other tests. If I have celiac, I'm asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms. I have been anemic in the past (but not lately since I eat way more meat), but I don't know if they correlate.

My questions are:

  1. If someone has another autoimmune disorder, will they test positive even if they don't have celiac (I know positive ANA tests can mean lupus, RA, etc)?
  2. What other autoimmune disorders might test positive when taking a Tissue Transglutaminase IgA?

 

Thanks.

It depends on what your TTG was. When I had mine done (it was all I did) it was >100. I asked my doctor if it could be from something else and he said, "with a number like that, not likely." I had an endoscopy a couple months later it and confirmed it. 

My mom has an AI liver disease and is negative for celiac. I know that people say that some AI diseases can cause the TTG to be high and that AI liver diseases can do that, but my mom has never had a positive TTG. My aunt and uncle both have type 1 diabetes and celiac, and their TTG's are fine. 

So, in my family's experience at least, the TTG has always pointed to celiac and nothing else. My GI didn't even recommend doing other blood tests after my TTG was so high. I'm getting follow up blood work done tomorrow and I asked if I need a DGP or anything else and he said no. I trust him, although I know that people on here have said that you shouldn't rely on the TTG alone. My doctor is comfortable with that so I go with what he says. Also, my TTG plummeted when I stopped eating gluten (down to 12 in 2 months), so that pretty much sealed the deal. 

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