Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Children With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Southeast Region of Turkey

Abstract

Background: Although the relationship between celiac disease (CD) and type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) is well recognized, there are no studies of this association in Southeast Region of our country. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of CD in a group of children with type 1 DM undergoing treatment in the Pediatric Endocrinology Department of our hospital.

Methods: The patients followed up with diagnosis of type 1 DM in the Outpatient Clinics of Pediatric Endocrinology in our hospital were enrolled in the study. Anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) IgA was measured in blood collected from these patients. Patients with anti-tTG IgA positive then had duodenal biopsy. Biopsy samples were obtained through an endoscopy procedure. Biopsy specimens were evaluated and classified according to Marsh classification.

Results: The study participants consisted of 218 patients (girls, n = 117: 53.7%; boys, n = 101: 46.3%) with type 1 DM with a mean age of 12.9 ± 4.5 years (range 2 - 18 years). Sixteen patients had anti-tTG IgA positive. All of the cases with positive serology underwent duodenal biopsy. On histopathological evaluation, 11 patients had mucosal alterations compatible with celiac disease; five patients had non-specific histologic changes or normal biopsies. The prevalence of CD was 5% among 218 patients. Five cases with normal biopsy results were evaluated as having latent CD.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that the prevalence of CD in children with type 1 DM was higher than that in general population. Periodic screening of diabetic children and adolescents in terms of CD is indicated to ensure early diagnosis and treatment.




Int J Clin Pediatr. 2016;5(2):32-35
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/ijcp239w