Direct fluorescent antibody studies of gamma globulin localization in muscle of patients with myasthenia gravis.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E H Beutner.
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Antigliadin antibodies (AGA) have been used as indicators of celiac disease. The presence of these antibodies in other gastrointestinal and liver disorders and even in normal healthy controls casts a shadow on the diagnostic significance of AGA. We examined 91 normal controls of varying ages and 97 patients with various gastrointestinal and liver disorders. Forty-eight of 97 nonceliac patients were positive for AGA, and diagnosis-specific incidences ranged as high as 75% in patients with small bowel disease. In addition, the levels of AGA were dependent upon age as their presence increased from 12% in children with a mean age of 10, to 35-40% in normals within the 60-70 age group. The lack of celiac disease specificity of AGA was not due to either the source of gliadin nor to the sensitivities of the test methods. Both the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the immunofluorescence methods gave comparable results. ELISA was more sensitive than immunofluorescence. These results thus strongly suggest that AGA are not markers of celiac disease and increase with age in normals.
We evaluated the sensitivity and kinetics of serum IgA class anti-endomysial antibodies in the diagnosis of celiac disease (CD) as established by the criteria of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (ESPGAN). Eighty-four cases that satisfied the ESPGAN criteria for CD were evaluated for IgA-EmA titers during various phases of establishing the diagnosis. Thirty-three cases were infants and children less than 5 years of age undergoing intestinal biopsies for symptoms of CD and 51 were previously diagnosed adults. Of the 33 children, 11 were untreated and symptomatic and were IgA-EmA positive at initial presentation. Twenty-two children previously controlled on a gluten-free diet (GFD) exhibited IgA-EmA titers during gluten challenge. Furthermore, the antibody levels declined in all cases (usually to negative) when the patients were again placed on a GFD for 6-12 months. Changes in intestinal histopathology paralleled the changes in antibody titers in six cases undergoing serial biopsies. Of the 51 adult patients with proven CD who were prescribed a GFD for at least 12 months, IgA-EmA were detected in 10 cases who were noncompliant to their GFD, whereas the antibodies was found in only 1 of the remaining 41 patients strictly adhering to their diet. The sera of 140 aged-matched children with various intestinal problems, 87 healthy adults, and 67 patients with dermatological diseases served as controls and were also IgA-EmA negative. On the basis of these findings, we suggest a role for the IgA-EmA as a serological screening test for active CD. It further offers the potential for monitoring compliance to diet in established cases of CD and also indicates the proper timing for biopsy in patients undergoing evaluation of CD.
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Celiac disease, a common chronic gastrointestinal disorder, is gluten induced and is controlled with a gluten-free diet. While the management of CD with a gluten-free diet is quite effective, the diagnosis is rather difficult. The ESPGAN criteria for the diagnosis of CD seems to be tedious and time-consuming. Serological tests for IgA class endomysial antibodies, as detected by indirect immunofluorescence, on human and primate smooth muscles are specific and sensitive markers of celiac disease. Of all the specimens examined, endomysial antibodies were present in patients with gluten-sensitive enteropathy. These antibodies occurred in all active cases of celiac disease, in 90 percent suspected celiac patients where all the ESPGAN criteria has not been fulfilled. This contrasts to the presence of endomysial antibodies in 46 percent of confirmed and 17 percent of suspected celiac patients maintained on a gluten-free diet for various time intervals. Endomysial antibodies also occurred in all cases with chronic diarrhea and gut histology consistent with CD and 8% of asymptomatic family members of CD patients. None of the patients with other gastrointestinal and liver diseases had endomysial antibodies. These studies thus emphasize the specificity and sensitivity of endomysial antibodies for celiac disease.
Screening for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) with parallel tests for complement fixing ANA (C-ANA) reveal that C-ANA react either as strongly as or more strongly than ANA in most cases of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and related disorders including CREST syndrome. But sera of drug induced LE and other ANA positive subjects have weak or no C-ANA. (P < 0.0005). Titrations with parallel C-ANA/ANA tests of two cases reveal primarily ANA and less C-ANA reactions in a case of drug induced LE but in CREST syndrome both ANA and C-ANA tests yield elevated titers with stronger C-ANA reactions. These findings point to distinct immunochemical mechanisms in C-ANA and ANA reactions.