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Testing for Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance

Testing for Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance. Dr. Stephen Wangen Founder, IBS Treatment Center www.IBSTreatmentCenter.com. What Keeps Me Awake At Night. What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is the exact opposite. Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

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Testing for Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance

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  1. Testing for Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance Dr. Stephen Wangen Founder, IBS Treatment Center www.IBSTreatmentCenter.com

  2. What Keeps Me Awake At Night

  3. What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is the exact opposite. Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) Sceptical Essays, 1928

  4. What Is Gluten? • A protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and several other grains. • Reactions to gluten are common and can cause many different problems. The most well known is celiac disease.

  5. Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease • Celiac Disease is a very specific type of damage done to the digestive tract resulting from a gluten intolerance. • This damage is the result of an autoimmune reaction that results in villous atrophy.

  6. What Is Villous Atrophy? Villous atrophy is damage to the surface of the small intestine. This damage is a sign of gluten intolerance.

  7. Diagnosing Celiac Disease • Celiac disease is diagnosed by measuring the damage in the digestive tract by either a: • Biopsy of the small intestine And/or • Blood test called tissue transglutaminase antibody.

  8. Prevalence • Nearly 3 million people in the United States have celiac disease. • But many more are gluten intolerant.

  9. Gluten Intolerance Does Not Have to Mean Celiac Disease. • Many people know or suspect that there exist non-celiac forms of gluten intolerance. • Patients test negative on blood work and biopsy for celiac disease, yet they know that wheat and gluten trigger their symptoms.

  10. How and Why Does This Happen? First we must understand and define celiac disease in order to put this issue into the proper perspective.

  11. Celiac Disease and Villous Atrophy Celiac disease is defined by villous atrophy. Without villous atrophy, you can’t have celiac disease. But villous atrophy must be put into its proper context

  12. Other Signs and Symptoms Associated With Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance What are all of the signs and symptoms associated with celiac disease and gluten intolerance?

  13. Digestive Diarrhea Constipation Abdominal pain Cramping Dyspepsia Gas Bloating Steatorrhea (fatty stools) Encopresis Enamel defects in teeth Heartburn Gastroparesis GERD Reflux IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) Esophagitis Eosinophilic gastroenteritis Eosinophilic esophagitis Canker sores Apthous ulcers Signs and Symptoms Associated with Gluten Intolerance

  14. Vomiting Nausea Intestinal bleeding Liver enzymes, elevated (ALT, ALK, ALP) Liver disease Pancreatitis Primary biliary cirrhosis Primary sclerosing cholangitis Colon cancer Lactose intolerance Fructose intolerance Occult blood in stool Hepatitis, autoimmune Hepatic steatosis Hepatic t-cell lymphoma Pancreatic exocrine function may be impaired Villous atrophy (celiac disease)

  15. Skin Acne Eczema Dermatitis Dermatitis herpetiformis Dry skin Follicular keratosis Hives Rashes Itchiness Welts Redness Dark circles under eyes Physical well-being Fatigue Weight loss Weight gain Poor endurance Inability to gain weight Chronic fatigue Failure to thrive Short stature Emotional Anxiety Irritability Depression Up and downs

  16. Mind/neurological Autism ADHD Difficulty concentrating Cerebellar atrophy Mental fog Brain white-matter lesions Insomnia/difficulty sleeping Schizophrenia Ataxia/difficulty with balance Epilepsy (with or without brain calcifications) Multifocal axonal polyneuropathy Neuropathy, peripheral (numbness or tingling of hands or feet) Musculoskeletal Arthritis Fibromyalgia Rheumatoid arthritis Muscle aches Joint pain Osteoporosis Osteopenia Osteomalacia Polymyositis Dental enamel defects Loss of strength Short stature MS (multiple sclerosis) Myasthenia gravis

  17. Respiratory system Wheezing Sinusitis, chronic Shortness of breath Asthma Women’s health Irregular cycle Infertility (also male infertility) Delayed menarche Premature menopause Spontaneous abortion/miscarriage Head Headaches Migraines Alopecia (hair loss) Chromosomal defects Down syndrome Miscellaneous Fatigue Anemia Iron deficiency Vitamin B12 deficiency (pernicious anemia) Vitamin K deficiency Folate deficiency Impotency Raynaud’s Eosinophils elevated (in blood test) Cystic fibrosis Pulmonary hemosiderosis Vasculitis

  18. Autoimmune disorders Addison’s disease Autoimmune chronic hepatitis Alopecia areata Diabetes, type 1 Graves disease Hyperparathyroidism, secondary Hypoparathyroidism, idiopathic autoimmune Lupus (SLE) Myasthenia gravis Sarcoidosis Scleroderma Sjogrens syndrome Hypothyroidism Villous atrophy Thyroiditis ITP (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpurea) Malignancies Small bowel adenocarcinoma Esophageal and oro-pharyngeal carcinoma Melanoma Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

  19. Over 130 Problems! We know that many signs and symptoms can be found associated with gluten intolerance and celiac disease.

  20. Villous Atrophy Is Only One of These. Villous atrophy is only one possible end product of gluten intolerance. Celiac disease = villous atrophy.

  21. What If You Don’t Have Villous Atrophy? Most of these are also signs and symptoms that can be associated with gluten intolerance even when villous atrophy is not present.

  22. Celiac disease (villous atrophy) is a gluten intolerance, but Gluten intolerance is not always celiac disease (villous atrophy).

  23. Gluten Intolerance Celiac Disease

  24. Celiac Disease Gluten Intolerance

  25. How Do We Know This? • People tell us • Clinical results tell us • Blood tests tell us • Medical Studies tell us

  26. The Free Market Tells Us • The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center states that 97% of celiacs have not been diagnosed. (Only about 70,000 dx.) • The market for gluten free products is now known to be over $1 billion per year (USDA estimates $1.7 bill by 2010). • That’s $14,200 per person, per year.

  27. What do the lab results look like for non-celiac gluten intolerance?

  28. Negative Celiac, Positive Gluten Intolerance • Tissue Transglutaminase antibody negative and • Biopsy negative • Gliadin antibody positive (IgA or IgG) • Total IgA normal

  29. Some Studies on Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance

  30. Small-bowel mucosal inflammation in reticulin or gliadin antibody-positive patients without villous atrophy. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 33, 944–949. Kaukinen, K., et al. (1998). “CONCLUSIONS: IgA-class … antigliadin antibody-positive patients with normal small-bowel mucosal morphology … implies that they may be gluten-sensitive.”

  31. Intolerance to cereals is not specific for coeliac disease.Scand J Gastroenterol. 2000 Sep;35(9):942-6. Kaukinen K, et al. “Allergy to cereals [other than celiac disease] should be considered even in adults.”

  32. Celiac disease without villous atrophy: Revision of criteria called for.Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 46, 879–887.Kaukinen, K., et al. (2001). “10 adults suspected to have celiac disease, but evincing only minor mucosal inflammation … showed a clinical, histological, and serological recovery on (a gluten free) diet.”

  33. Common Blood Tests for Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance Gliadin antibodies • Gliadin IgA • Gliadin IgG

  34. Discovery is to see what everyone else has seen and to think what no one else has thought. Albert Szent Gyorgyi 1937 Nobel Prize in Medicine

  35. Gliadin Antibodies • Not predictive of celiac disease. • A great assessment of an immune reaction to gluten. • Therefore a great assessment of gluten intolerance.

  36. Commonly Used as a Screening Test for Celiac Disease • Numerous studies have used gliadin antibodies to begin screening people for celiac disease, including most studies on the prevalence of celiac disease. • Many studies on signs and symptoms associated with gluten intolerance are based on gliadin antibodies and not celiac disease.

  37. Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance is Not Less Severe Than Celiac Disease • Nor is there any evidence that celiac disease is the end stage of gluten intolerance.

  38. Emerging new clinical patterns in the presentation of celiac disease. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008 Feb;162(2):164-8. Telega G, Bennet TR, Werlin S [A review of] the medical records of all patients diagnosed with celiac disease at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin between 1986 and 2003…[demonstrated that patients] with celiac disease usually do not present with classic symptoms; they are more likely to be asymptomatic…”

  39. Some Studies on Signs and Symptoms Associated with Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance

  40. Dietary treatment of gluten neuropathy. Muscle Nerve. 2006 Dec;34(6):762-6. HadjivassiliouM, et al. “We studied the effect of a gluten-free diet in patients with idiopathic sensorimotor axonal neuropathy and circulating antigliadin antibodies. A total of 35 patients participated in the study, with 25 patients going on the diet and 10 not doing so. There was a significant difference … with evidence of improvement in the [treatment] group and deterioration in the control group.”

  41. Myopathy associated with gluten sensitivity. Muscle Nerve. 2007 Apr;35(4):443-50. Hadjivassiliou M, et al. “Among seven patients not on immunosuppressive treatment, four showed clinical improvement of the myopathy with a gluten-free diet. The myopathy progressed in one patient who refused the gluten-free diet. Myopathy may be another manifestation of gluten sensitivity and is likely to have an immune-mediated pathogenesis.”

  42. Gluten sensitivity masquerading as systemic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2004 Nov;63(11):1501-3. Hadjivassiliou M, Sanders DS, Grünewald RA, Akil M. “Three patients are described whose original presentation and immunological profile led to the erroneous diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. The correct diagnosis of gluten sensitivity was made after years of treatment…The presence of an enteropathy is no longer a prerequisite for the diagnosis of gluten sensitivity, which can solely present with extraintestinal symptoms and signs. Knowledge of the diverse manifestations of gluten sensitivity is essential in avoiding such misdiagnosis.”

  43. Dietary treatment of gluten ataxia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2003 Sep;74(9):1221-4. Hadjivassiliou M, Davies-Jones GA, Sanders DS, Grünewald RA. “Gluten ataxia is an immune mediated disease, part of the spectrum of gluten sensitivity, and accounts for up to 40% of cases of idiopathic sporadic ataxia. Twenty six patients (treatment group) adhered to the gluten-free diet and had evidence of elimination of antigliadin antibodies by one year. CONCLUSIONS: Gluten ataxia responds to a strict gluten-free diet even in the absence of an enteropathy.”

  44. Antibodies Against Foods Other Than Gluten • In the same way, you can also test for antibodies to wheat, barley, rye, spelt, etc. • Typically IgG antibodies. • If gliadin antibodies are elevated, these will also be elevated. (Visit www.IBSTreatmentCenter.com for more info).

  45. A Few Studies on IgG Food Antibodies (other than gluten)

  46. The clinical significance of food specific IgE/IgG4 in food specific atopic dermatitis. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 18(1), 63–70. Noh, G., et al. (2007). “Specific IgE and IgG4 concentration were measured ... Double blinded placebo controlled food challenge test (DBPCFC) was performed. Mean IgE/IgG4 levels in DBPCFC (+) subjects is higher than those in DBPCFC (-) subjects in all food items studied. Allergen-specific IgE/IgG4 may provide one of the clues to understand the mechanism of food allergy in atopic dermatitis.”

  47. Food-specific IgG4 antibody-guided exclusion diet improves symptoms and rectal compliance in irritable bowel syndrome. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 40, 800–807. Zars, S., et al. (2005). “IgG4 antibodies to common food antigens are elevated in IBS. The aim of this article was to evaluate the effect of exclusion diet based on IgG4 titres… CONCLUSIONS: Food-specific IgG4 antibody-guided exclusion diet improves symptoms in IBS and is associated with an improvement in rectal compliance.”

  48. Food-specific serum IgG4 and IgE titers to common food antigens in irritable bowel syndrome. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 100, 1550–1557. Zars, S., et al. (2005). “No significant difference in IgE titers was observed between IBS and controls. Serum IgG4 antibodies to common foods like wheat, beef, pork, and lamb are elevated in IBS patients. In keeping with the observation in other atopic conditions, this finding suggests the possibility of a similar pathophysiological role for IgG4 antibodies in IBS.”

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