Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):
  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Question About Anti-Ttg


PersianCeliac

Recommended Posts

PersianCeliac Contributor

Hi everyone, my mother and aunt were recently diagnosed with celiac. My mother has no symptoms except anemia. My mother's tTG was >800 when diagnosed and biopsy showed subtotal atrophy. I was wondering did anyone else have such a high number ? I am afraid that since her numbers are so high it will be difficult for her to bring it down or normalize it. My aunt's number was >500 but done at a different lab so they stop counting at 500 not 800.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



sa1937 Community Regular

Welcome to the forum! Different labs use difference reference ranges. My celiac panel was done by Quest and my tTG was >100 with positive being >8. So how far over 100 that was is an unknown. 398? 500? 1,000? No clue.

ravenwoodglass Mentor

Her numbers should come down after she has been on the diet for a bit. Many doctors will recheck levels at 6 months to a year gluten-free. By the way since your Mom was diagnosed that means you should also be tested along with the rest of your family if you haven't been already. Read as much as you can here to help your Mom and keep her safe and ask any other questions you need to.

PersianCeliac Contributor

Thank you for your responses. As soon as I found out its hereditary, I got tested. My results are confusing my ttg and EmA are both negative also anti-gliadin IGg negative only anti-gliadin IgA is positive and that is not specific to celiac. I guess maybe I have some allergy to gluten but not celiac yet. Sylvia I was wondering did your number come down for ttg ? And if yes how long did it take ?

ravenwoodglass Mentor

Thank you for your responses. As soon as I found out its hereditary, I got tested. My results are confusing my ttg and EmA are both negative also anti-gliadin IGg negative only anti-gliadin IgA is positive and that is not specific to celiac. I guess maybe I have some allergy to gluten but not celiac yet. Sylvia I was wondering did your number come down for ttg ? And if yes how long did it take ?

It is my understanding that the IgA is quite specific to celiac. IMHO with your family history you should go gluten free and then retest and see if the IgA levels go down.

sa1937 Community Regular

Thank you for your responses. As soon as I found out its hereditary, I got tested. My results are confusing my ttg and EmA are both negative also anti-gliadin IGg negative only anti-gliadin IgA is positive and that is not specific to celiac. I guess maybe I have some allergy to gluten but not celiac yet. Sylvia I was wondering did your number come down for ttg ? And if yes how long did it take ?

Knowing what I know now, I would have asked to be retested at 6 months and a year. For me I think I was 9 months or so into the diet before I was retested.

While my EMA was positive at diagnosis, it was negative when retested. My tTG had gone from >100 to 10, which according to Quest was still positive (>8 is positive). Since I was compliant to the diet, I was totally bummed when I met with my GI in April a year ago. He was not concerned because the numbers had fallen dramatically and we had no idea how high they really were as Quest only tested to 100. Right now I have a lab slip to test the tTG and EMA again and have a follow-up appointment on June 7. Now to get to the lab...

If my tTG is still positive, I plan to ask for more testing as I know other AI diseases can also affect tTG levels.

PersianCeliac Contributor

Knowing what I know now, I would have asked to be retested at 6 months and a year. For me I think I was 9 months or so into the diet before I was retested.

While my EMA was positive at diagnosis, it was negative when retested. My tTG had gone from >100 to 10, which according to Quest was still positive (>8 is positive). Since I was compliant to the diet, I was totally bummed when I met with my GI in April a year ago. He was not concerned because the numbers had fallen dramatically and we had no idea how high they really were as Quest only tested to 100. Right now I have a lab slip to test the tTG and EMA again and have a follow-up appointment on June 7. Now to get to the lab...

If my tTG is still positive, I plan to ask for more testing as I know other AI diseases can also affect tTG levels.

Sylvia I hope your tests turn out normal, it is great that u responded so well. I was wondering what was the stage of your celiac at diagnosis ? Mild, subtotal or total atrophy ?


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



sa1937 Community Regular

Sylvia I hope your tests turn out normal, it is great that u responded so well. I was wondering what was the stage of your celiac at diagnosis ? Mild, subtotal or total atrophy ?

Thanks, I do, too! My biopsy report said I had villous atrophy but it didn't define it according to the Marsh scale, which I've seen referred to on here. So I really don't know.

Skylark Collaborator

It is my understanding that the IgA is quite specific to celiac. IMHO with your family history you should go gluten free and then retest and see if the IgA levels go down.

I have a different understanding? Usually these days gliadin means deamidated gliadin and I'm pretty sure the IgG is more specific than IgA with the deamidated? The old anti-gliadin IgA was not sensitive at all but pretty specific but I don't know that anyone runs it anymore. I think we did have a couple people with deamidated IgA and positive biopsies.

Whatever it is, having a positive on any of the gliadin style blood tests means you will probably feel better off gluten!

GladGirl Rookie

My bloodwork was done through the office of a hemotologist and his lab. My IGA was positive big time! Because of my liver biopsy and the bloodwork they did not feel it necessary at this time for me to have another invasive procedure. My liver enzymes are hopefully showing diminished in this next bloodwork. I am however, going to seek a gastro Dr. I have heard of who specializes in celiac disease. I know the tests for my vitamin/mineral status is necessary at this point, so will be taking that step next.

The bloodwork as I understand it for testing is not always "conclusive", so it seems that the genetic testing is another way to go. I am thinking in this whole scenario, that one day they will probably "type" this disease as they have so many others. With all the varying symptomology out there, it would seem that as more clinical studies are performed, that may be the way this specialty will go. Could be helpful for so many out there. Just a thought on my part.:)

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - cristiana replied to colinukcoeliac's topic in Gluten-Free Restaurants
      10

      What should I expect from a UK restaurant advertising / offering "Gluten Free" food

    2. - cristiana replied to hjayne19's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      34

      Insomnia help

    3. - cristiana replied to colinukcoeliac's topic in Gluten-Free Restaurants
      10

      What should I expect from a UK restaurant advertising / offering "Gluten Free" food

    4. - melthebell replied to melthebell's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      2

      Persistent isolated high DGP-IGG in child despite gluten-free diet

    5. - trents replied to melthebell's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      2

      Persistent isolated high DGP-IGG in child despite gluten-free diet

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,498
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    genliu
    Newest Member
    genliu
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):
  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • cristiana
      Re: Michelin star.  To give an example, the Ritz Hotel in London has two Michelin stars.   Here's another article about Michelin stars - from our own archive.  
    • cristiana
      Very helpful @knitty kitty.  Thank you.  I am trying to remember what vitamin so alarmed my GP and I have a feeling it was A or E.  I remember reading the pills contained well over the 100 per cent RDA of whatever the vitamin was. One thing I'd love to ask you that has always intrigued me.  One day when my anxiety was completely through the roof.  I 'felt the fear and did it anyway' - a phrase other anxiety sufferers may be aware of, which I found a powerful tool in my recovery -  and visited a friend's house, even though I felt so wretched.  For some reason I craved milk and drank two whole pints of milk in quick succession while I was with her - to this day I can't think why, because I don't usually drink milk 'neat' - I like it in tea or coffee, or hot chocolate.  But I distinctly remember within a couple of hours feeling absolutely fine again for quite a while.  I've often wondered was it down to this milk, which I've since understood contains quite decent levels of B12.  Would that have really worked so fast?    
    • cristiana
      @trents  Good question.  We are strict at home, although I have to admit I've eating the odd chocolate at Christmas that turned out to have been made in a shared facility.  But that  is very unusual for me, and I had my last blood test before Christmas anyway.  Therefore I have concluded that eating out must be the issue.  But I'll let you know in September when I have my next blood tests done.  😊  
    • melthebell
      Thanks very much for taking the time to write this. I have been pretty worried so appreciate reading any advice. Yes, the endoscopy will include a biopsy, and we have hopefully found a good pediatric gastro to guide us through it all.  Will also run the HLA typing - I have the swabs ready to go.
    • trents
      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @melthebell! I certainly would have a biopsy repeated as it has been 5 years since the first one. You mentioned he was scheduled for an endoscopy but make sure a biopsy is also done. It's possible he, like you are, is a "silent" celiac where the damage to the intestinal mucosa happens very slowly and can take years to manifest to the point of being detectable and where symptoms are minimal or absent. At 10 years old, his immune system may not be mature enough het to trigger the usual IGA responses that the IGA celiac tests are designed to detect.  I would also have genetic testing done to confirm that he has or doesn't have the potential to develop celiac disease. The genetic profile can also offer insight into the type of celiac disease a person will develop if they ever convert from latent to active. Take a look at table 2 under the section "Types of Celiac Disease" in the article found in this link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9980758/  Genetic testing is available from 3rd party labs. I think you just have to send in a cheek swab sample.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.