Which Tests (Minimum) Should He Ask For?

[Cara in Boston]

My son and I were diagnosed with celiac disease last March. I told all my siblings to get tested and my two brothers (go figure) still haven't found the time. Now my younger brother is having some weird symptoms that may or may not be related but I have talked him in to getting the blood tests. His doctor said she would give him the "pair" of tests (TTG IgA and total IgA) that they offer. I know I had 5 different tests and so did my son. We actually came up positive on opposite tests, so I know if we had only been given two, one of us would not be diagnosed.

Anyway, he asked me for a specific list of what to ask for that he can take with him to his doctor's office.

Here's what I came up with (from memory) and I just want to check to make sure I haven't missed something or to check to see if there was some newer test available.

All five of these:

IgA

TTG Ab,IgA

Gliadin Ab(s) IgG

Gliadin Ab(s) IgA

TTG Ab, IgG

OR (instead of, in addition to? not sure.)

DGP IgG

DGP IgA

ELISA (TTG IgA)

EMA IgA

Total IgA

Also, what is the name of the lab that you can send a sample to? He is worried that his doctor is uninformed and he may need to seek some testing on his own.

Thanks for any clarification or new information you can provide.

Cara

[Skylark]

I'd ask for:

Total IgA

TTG IgA

gliadin peptide (DGP) IgG, IgA

EMA IgA (if you can get it - not all labs do it)

Unless there is selective IgA deficiency in the family I'm not sure I'd ask for TTG IgG on the first round of testing.

I was impressed by this service. Open Original Shared Link

[Cara in Boston]

Thanks for the response.

Seems like the IgG tests are not always given but strangely, that is the only one that was positive for my son, who was later diagnosed with a biopsy and had considerable damage. All his IgA tests were perfectly normal. I worry that if my brother has a similar situation, he may never find out.

[Skylark]

In that case I'd definitely ask for IgG TTG.