Iga deficiency and testing advice

[Greentea34]

Hello everyone!

my daughter is almost 4. Since she was a few weeks old she had lots of gastro issues- vomiting, loose stools, stomach aches etc. she was originally off dairy but we reintroduced it around 2.5years successfully. When she had testing with doctors they tested celiac as her aunt has celiac disease. She was very iga deficient but they ran the alternative tests because of this and they said the results were fine. They did also do genetic testing and she does have the common gene for celiac. Because her iga was so low they retested her this week as she is almost 4 to see if it’s increased. Which is good as it has, still very low but not selective iga deficiency. She still however, has loose stool most of the time, stomach aches frequently and seems tired on and off through out the day. Has anyone had a similar experience with their child, I’m guessing I shouldn’t worry about celiac? 
 

Her dad has always had stomach issues, he is quite slim, always complaining of some sort of joint ache, pain in his body and he has a bad stomach. Since he was teenager, he rarely has solid stools and has always been told it’s IBS. When my daughter was having her testing I asked him to get retested for celiac because of his sister and his symptoms but they apparently came back okay, looking at his results later on I feel like this says he has very low iga and I don’t know if the tests here take that into account, I feel like it’s the common process right? Or should I ask him to redo test?   Results below:

TTG IGA ANTIBODY

Normality

Result

Providing the patient was on a normal diet(at least

1 gluten containing meal per day)for 6-8 weeks, this anti ttg result makes Coeliac disease unlikely ,but does not completely exclude the diagnosis. However, if clinical features are compelling please refer to a gastroenterologist.

IgA deficiency has been excluded as part of this test.

Tissue transglutaminase

IgA level (XaJg2)

Range (0.0 - 6.91u/ml)

Result: 0.3 u/ml

 

thanks

 

lottie 

[knitty kitty]

Welcome to the forum, @Greentea34,

Was the DGP IgG test run?  It's just as reliable as the tTg IgA when there's IgA insufficiency and in children and young adults.  

[trents]

Yes, when total IGA is low, other tests need to be run including DGP-IGA and DGP-IGG.

Also, there is the possibility of NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) which some experts see as a pre-celiac gluten disorder, 10x more common than celiac disease, sharing  many of the same symptoms with celiac disease but for which there is no testing available yet. Gluten free diet is in order for both.

[Greentea34]

Thanks for all of your replies!

I can’t see on the blood results that he was tested for anything other that TTG Iga!

for my daughter the comments from the gastroenterologist:

Investigations prior to this review include coeliac serology. Her TTG IgA was < 0.1 but her IgG levels are low at <0.07. Due to her IgA deficiency we have screened her for TTG IgG which has been normal on two occasions - this is an alternative way to screen for coeliac disease in children with low IgA levels.
 

Thanks! 

 

[Scott Adams]

This article might be helpful. It breaks down each type of test, and what a positive results means in terms of the probability that you might have celiac disease. 

 

 

[trents]

She could be seronegative for celaic disease as is one of our moderators with celiac disease. More likely would be NCGS.