Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease triggered by gluten frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases, among which is type 1 diabetes first.

Objectives: The objectives of our study are:

– To determine the serological prevalence of celiac disease (CD) in patients with type 1 diabetes (DT1)

– Compare the clinical and biological characteristics of seropositive and seronegative patients.

Methods: This is as multicenter, cross–sectional study that was carried out over a period of two years. We investigated an adult and pediatric Moroccan population comprised of 276 diabetic type 1 patients, including 144 female and 132 male (sex ratio 1: 1, mean age 14.1 ± 8 years). The screening of CD consisted of the dosage of IgA anti–tTG antibodies, IgA–tTGA seronegative patients with IgA deficiency have been screened for IgG anti–tTG antibodies. HLA–DQ2 / DQ8 typing was performed in patients with low serum anti–tTG and EMA titers.

Results: Among the 276 participants in the study, 25 patients were found to be seropositive, making the serological prevalence 9.1%. Of whom, one patient was found to be IgA deficient and seropositive only to the IgG isotype of the anti–tTG antibodies. 5 patients were advised to perform an HLA determination as they had low titers of both tTG and EMA antibodies, 3 of whom were positive for HLA–DQ2 and 1 for HLA–DQ8. 1 patient was lost to follow up.

Conclusion: Mass screening is to be recommended. However, controlled longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed to prove any potential benefit of a gluten–free diet in similar settings, especially in asymptomatic patients.