Is This Iga Deficiency?

[mbridget]

had blood tests ran to check for celiac disease because I have countless symptoms that point to that. When I got my results back I has shocked that my IGA levels were so low. Is this IGA deficiency?

TISSUE TRAN IGA: 0.7 U/mL

**Lab ranges are: Negative <4.0

Equivocal 4.0 to 10.0

Positive >10.0

My IGG level was low also

TISSUE TRAN IGG 1.7 U/mL

**Lab ranges : negative <6.0

equivocal 6.0 to 9.0

positive >9.0

[JennyC]

The tests that were run were for tissue transglutaminase antibodies, for both IgG and IgA antibody classes. Both of the tests are for celiac disease. You did not post any tests regarding antibody deficiency. A test for IgA deficiency would likely be called "IgA toal" or just "IgA."

[mbridget]

The tests that were run were for tissue transglutaminase antibodies, for both IgG and IgA antibody classes. Both of the tests are for celiac disease. You did not post any tests regarding antibody deficiency. A test for IgA deficiency would likely be called "IgA toal" or just "IgA."

This is all they tested me for and all the lab gave me when I got my copy of the report. HELP! Now Im really confused. There is so much to learn!

[mushroom]

This is all they tested me for and all the lab gave me when I got my copy of the report. HELP! Now Im really confused. There is so much to learn!

The full celiac blood panel is considered to be:

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA

Total Serum IgA

Plus there is a newly developed test called Deaminated Gliadin Peptides (DGP) just to confuse you further.

Many doctors do not order the full panel for some reason. The tTG and EMA are I believe considered to be the two most useful, but generally a total serum IGA is necessary to be run as a control to determine that you are in fact producing antibodies. If the total serum IGA is really low, it can invalidate the other celiac tests. It is all very complicated. Of course, if your results are positive, the total serum IGA control is irrelevant, but if they are negative it would be useful to have this test run

[mbridget]

The full celiac blood panel is considered to be:

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgA

Anti-Gliadin (AGA) IgG

Anti-Endomysial (EMA) IgA

Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) IgA

Total Serum IgA

Plus there is a newly developed test called Deaminated Gliadin Peptides (DGP) just to confuse you further.

Many doctors do not order the full panel for some reason. The tTG and EMA are I believe considered to be the two most useful, but generally a total serum IGA is necessary to be run as a control to determine that you are in fact producing antibodies. If the total serum IGA is really low, it can invalidate the other celiac tests. It is all very complicated. Of course, if your results are positive, the total serum IGA control is irrelevant, but if they are negative it would be useful to have this test run

This is all so frustrating. I feel like I had to really push to get these tests and now it seems that I STILL dont have a valid answer! I went ahead and ordered a full panel from Enterolab.

Oddly my GI told me that the blood test said without a doubt "No Celiac" and yet today I get a letter from his office that says that I should go off gluten, dairy and simple sugars as this may help allieviate my symptoms. THANKS! I can figure that out all by myself and save a couple hundred dollars in the process!

[mushroom]

Don't discount the possibility that you are gluten intolerant/sensitive, rather than full-blown celiac. The treatment is the same for either condition, i.e., a gluten free diet, which is probably why your GI told you to avoid gluten, dairy and sugars. The dairy is because gluten damages the villi in your small intestine where the lactase is produced to digest the lactose (sugar) in milk, etc., the sugar because there is a possible yeast overgrowth in the bowel which is quite common with gluten sensitivity. You may also be intolerant of casein, which is the protein in dairy. You will have to experiment to see if you can eat cultured dairy products where most of the lactose has been pre-digested--yogurt, hard cheese, sour cream were all okay for me. Or, of course you may not be lactose intolerant at all.

The best test at this point to find out if you are gluten intolerant is to do do as the doctor suggested. See if you feel better, and if you do, challenge the dairy and sugar after a week or two to see if you need to continue avoiding them as well. Your GI really should have given you a little more information about his recommendations

[nora-n]

Most places in Europe they just automatically run the total IgA when doing celiac tests.

I think the lab has really bad routines when they do not do that automatically.

also, the enterolab antibody tests in the fecal tests are IgA based and in case of IgA deficiency they will be negative.

But the fecal fat test will probably be high, and usually but not always the gene test will be positive.

(but there are several people here with other genes)

I do not have a diagnosis but I am totally gluten free and I get DH rash from just traces of gluten, and some ataxia symptoms. I need no more proof. (only my doctor does but that is another story)

[mbridget]

Thank you everyone for all of your help and suggestions. I am at Day 18 gluten free (at least intentionally) and I am not sure if I feel different yet or not. I suspect that the soy and dairy I am ingesting may be stalling my progress. I am going to start to work on that.