Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated small intestinal disorder that occurs in genetically susceptible people. It is significantly associated with other autoimmune disorders represented mainly by type 1 diabetes and autoimmune dysthyroidism.

Material and methods: We report 23 observations of patients with autoimmune endocrinopathies associated with celiac disease.

Results: There are 23 patients with an average age of 31 years. All patients had chronic diarrhea associated with abdominal pain in 15 cases and malabsorption syndrome in five cases. The diagnosis of celiac disease was made on serological (Anti-transglutaminase, anti-endomysium and anti-gliadin antibodies positive respectively in 20, 18 and 15 cases) and histological criteria (Partial villous atrophy in 13 cases and total villous atrophy in 10 cases). Autoimmune endocrinopathies associated to celiac disease were: type 1 diabetes in 14 cases, Hashimoto thyroiditis in seven cases and Addison disease in one case. One patient had type 1 diabetes, Basedow disease and Addison’s disease associated to celiac disease. All patients were treated with gluten-free diet and specific endocrinopathy treatment with favorable evolution.

Conclusion: In the presence of autoimmune endocrinopathies the search of associated autoimmune diseases in particular celiac disease is necessary in order to avoid any therapeutic delay which can alter the prognosis of the patient.