What Is The Igg Blood Test?

[LisaP]

Once diagnosed, one of the first thing my doctor told me to do was to get my kids tested.

So, we ran an IGA test, which for both kids came back normal. Thank God for that right now.

At the same time an IGG test was run.....Normal is below 20 or 30. One child was in the high 80s and one was 120. That is very high! What does it mean?

I ran into a brick wall trying to get an explanation of this test. Both the allergist that ordered the test as well as the pediatrician, could not tell me the signficance of this test. Take about one FRUSTRATED mom! I was about to blow my top!

I finally called my GI doctor and asked the nurse. She said it just showed that they carried the gene and that I did not need to worry about anything at this time. But, that they would need to be monitored over the years.

Now, subject #2, if they carry the gene....I have read that I should put them on a gluten-free diet to avoid celiac disease. Anyone know anything about that?

I am still confused, so any input would be appreciated.

Man, I wish the main stream medical people knew about celiac disease. I have found that close to no one but the GI folks have a freaking clue.

[gf4life]

I had the same experience as you with my children. All three tested negative on the IgA tests and positive on the IgG only. I kept being told that this means they probably don't have celiac disease. Well, probably is not good enough for me when it comes to my kids health, but I did not want to put them on the diet if they didn't have to be on it. I got them to a pediatric GI who wanted to gene test them, but my insurance wouldn't pay. I looked into using the lab that the doctor wanted, but it was going to be $750 per child, so I opted for Enterolab testing at $350 per child. All I wanted was a YES or NO answer.

I got their results back yesterday. My daughter carries the gene that I have that causes celiac disease, both my boys carry different genes that predispose them to gluten intolerance. But the clincher is that they are all producing positive IgA antibodies to gliadin and tissue transglutiminase (the two top gluten intolerance tests), and they are all also producing antibodies to casein (meaning they are intolerant to dairy as well, so am I by the way). So now I can rest assured that I am doing the right thing by putting them on a gluten-free/dairy-free diet. Only my daughter has a chance of developing full blown celiac disease, but the others also have the auto-immune response to gluten and although they wouldn't get as much damage in their intestines they would still suffer from many ailments caused by gluten. Now they don't have to.

If you are interested in the Enterolab testing you can find out more about it at Open Original Shared Link They test the stool, which is a more sensitive test, since the antibodies are produced in the intestine and some are eliminated in the stool. They only cross over into the blood when the damage to the intestines is really bad. They also run a gene test which is much cheaper, but if you already know they have the gene then you wouldn't need that. The stool test is cheaper without the gene test.

I just didn't want to wait until my kids were severely ill with very damaged intestines before getting them diagnosed. I wanted to be able to help them avoid further illness caused by gluten.

I hope this helps you a little bit. The doctors always say that they IgG test is not specific for Celiac, but they don't seem to know what a high IgG reading might indicate. I just see it as an inconclusive test result and it warrants further testing. They can't rule out gluten intolerance based on one blood test. Your kids just don't have severe damage enough to produce IgA antibodies, and they may never get that much damage, but do you really want to wait around and see if they do?

God bless,

Mariann

[LisaP]

Thanks Mariann. It helps to get a clue from someone else. I will be checking into this much more.

I appreciate your help.

Lisa

[LisaS]

My daughter also tested positive to only the IgG gliadin. I have been researching this topic on the web.

I found one site at Open Original Shared Link that talks about intestinal permeability (a.k.a leaky gut). They claim that people with a leaky gut will test positive for IgG and IgA (gliadin and casein) antibodies. Interesting huh?

There is also an article on this site (celiac.com) that talks about Candida (which is one cause of leaky gut) being a trigger for Celiac disease

https://www.celiac.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_prod.html?p_prodid=859&sid=8f3Ivt0mJK4O2R5-44103066815.c9 ://https://www.celiac.com/cgi-bin/webc....44103066815.c9 ://https://www.celiac.com/cgi-bin/webc....44103066815.c9

Apparently, Candida looks a lot like gliadin.

This may explain why some people continue to get positive IgG and IgA gliadin results and still have symptoms despite being gluten-free.

There is a test for leaky gut. For more information check out Open Original Shared Link

Lisa