Confused by blood results.

[gordoben]

Hey all,

It is only early days, but sometimes I find no matter how much you ask your GP, you tend to get the answer, we need to send you to a specialist, which I do understand. 

Saw GP as I'm 37 (very health and active), have a father who had bowel cancer in his 50's. I had a colonoscopy 5-6 years ago which was normal. Over the past few months have had abdo discomfort, bloating, increased in flatulence (my kids keep telling me off."

Normal basic bloods

Normal abdo XR

TTA IGA normal at 1 (reference <7) 

Gliadin (DGP) 17 classified as high however GP said weakly positive as sees people in the hundreds (reference <7)

I wanted a colonoscopy anyway as it has been 5 years. Fingers crossed for no bowel cancer, but she thinks I could potentially have celiac disease. I feel a bit lost, do i just need to chill out and wait to see what the endoscopy and biopsy show? Why else would my DGP be raised. 

Thank you for your time

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, gordoben!

Your symptoms and the elevated DGP indicate you may have celiac disease or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). They share many of the same symptoms but there is no reliable test for NCGS. NCGS is 10x more common than celiac disease. A colonoscopy cannot be used to diagnose celiac disease but rather an endoscopy with biopsy is used to diagnose celiac disease.

Did your doctor order a total serum IGA? You did not mention that. If total serum IGA is low then it will drive specific IGA celiac tests numbers downward such as the tTG-IGA.

You must continue to eat regular amounts of gluten until all testing for celiac disease is complete.

Edited June 15, 2023 by trents

[gordoben]

16 minutes ago, trents said:

Welcome to the forum, gordoben!

Your symptoms and the elevated DGP indicate you may have celiac disease or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). They share many of the same symptoms but there is no reliable test for NCGS. NCGS is 10x more common than celiac disease. A colonoscopy cannot be used to diagnose celiac disease but rather an endoscopy with biopsy is used to diagnose celiac disease.

Did your doctor order a total serum IGA? You did not mention that. If total serum IGA is low then it will drive specific IGA celiac tests numbers downward such as the tTG-IGA.

You must continue to eat regular amounts of gluten until all testing for celiac disease is complete.

Yupp im having an endoscopy also. 

No, no total serum I can see, just the TTA IGA.

Negative FOB test.

Awaiting private gastro appointment

[Scott Adams]

This article explains the various test results. Do yo know if it was the DPG-IgA or DPG-IgG test?

 

[gordoben]

5 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

This article explains the various test results. Do yo know if it was the DPG-IgA or DPG-IgG test?

 

Thanks for reply mate. Was Gliadin (DGP) IgG

[Scott Adams]

I'm sure you saw this, but in that article:

Quote

The sensitivity of the DGP-IgG test is reported to range from 75% to 85%, which means it can correctly identify individuals with the condition in about 75% to 85% of cases. The specificity of the DGP-IgG test is reported to range from 75% to 95%, which means it can correctly identify individuals without the condition in about 75% to 95% of cases.

So the odds are much in favor of you having celiac disease, and you could do more tests to determine this. The normal next step would be an endoscopy for celiac disease. 

Another approach would be trying the gluten-free diet for a few months to see if it helps with your symptoms, but then you might never know for sure whether or not you have celiac disease.