Total Iga Test Is High

[Megan6516]

My 3 year old son's Total IgA test was high (not the IgA-gliadin). All I can find on the internet is about IgA deficiency, nothing about what it means when it's high. Anyone else know what can cause it to be high?

[Jestgar]

How high? And what were the reference ranges provided by the lab?

[Megan6516]

How high? And what were the reference ranges provided by the lab?

She said the normal range for a 3 year old is in between 20-150 and my son's was 202

[ravenwoodglass]

The elevated Total IGA should be investigated. It may not be of a concern but it should not be blown off. Ask your ped and also consult a GI about it. If they haven't run stool testing for microbes, infectious agents etc. they most likely will.

[happygirl]

The other part is that the IgA based tests won't be compromised (as would be the case if he were IgA deficient).

[lizard00]

My 3 year old son's Total IgA test was high (not the IgA-gliadin). All I can find on the internet is about IgA deficiency, nothing about what it means when it's high. Anyone else know what can cause it to be high?

Was he fighting anything off at the time, like a cold? My son's came back slightly elevated when we had his done, and was fighting a cold at the time. It made sense that his IgA was a little high.

Just a thought...

[Megan6516]

Was he fighting anything off at the time, like a cold? My son's came back slightly elevated when we had his done, and was fighting a cold at the time. It made sense that his IgA was a little high.

Just a thought...

No, actually this was one of the few times that he wasn't sick at all. It's just aggervating me that I can't find anything on what causes it to be high, everything I find is about it being too low.

[ravenwoodglass]

No, actually this was one of the few times that he wasn't sick at all. It's just aggervating me that I can't find anything on what causes it to be high, everything I find is about it being too low.

I would follow up, there are a lot of causes for an elevation in the total IGA and perhaps a phone call to your peds office might help ease your mind. Express your concerns to a nurse. Your doctor may plan on just retesting in a couple of months to see if it has gone down.

[CLeeB]

My 3 year old son's Total IgA test was high (not the IgA-gliadin). All I can find on the internet is about IgA deficiency, nothing about what it means when it's high. Anyone else know what can cause it to be high?

I'm not sure I can shed too much light on this, but I too had elevated IgA scores and empathize with the lack of information. The normal range for my health care provider is 68-378, my scores were 511 and 484 a couple months apart. The allergist I was working with said there are several things that could cause the high IgA levels, including autoimmune disorders, kidney/GI issues (including celiac), certain infectious diseases and a few other very unusual immune related things. What he didn't mention, of course, is non-celiac gluten sensitivity. I recently did the EnteroLab testing and my anti-gliadin IgA scores were fairly high. So, in my case, the overall IgA scores could simply be a reflection of the anti-gliadin levels.

However, I'm not a three year old. And I agree with earlier posters - you should bring it up with the doctor.

[Megan6516]

I'm not sure I can shed too much light on this, but I too had elevated IgA scores and empathize with the lack of information. The normal range for my health care provider is 68-378, my scores were 511 and 484 a couple months apart. The allergist I was working with said there are several things that could cause the high IgA levels, including autoimmune disorders, kidney/GI issues (including celiac), certain infectious diseases and a few other very unusual immune related things. What he didn't mention, of course, is non-celiac gluten sensitivity. I recently did the EnteroLab testing and my anti-gliadin IgA scores were fairly high. So, in my case, the overall IgA scores could simply be a reflection of the anti-gliadin levels.

However, I'm not a three year old. And I agree with earlier posters - you should bring it up with the doctor.

Thanks everyone. We have our next gastro appointment on tuesday, hopefully we will have the other test back by then. I just have so many mixed feelings because I don't want my son to be different then everyone else but I sure would love to fix whatever the underlying cause is for him being so miserable allllll the time. I will keep everyone updated on how the other test turn out. Thanks again