Gluten-dependent diabetes-related and thyroid-related autoantibodies in patients with celiac disease

Abstract

Patients with celiac disease are at high risk of having autoimmune disorders. Moreover, untreated patients with celiac disease have been found to have a higher than expected prevalence of organ-specific autoantibodies. In a prospective study of 90 patients with celiac disease, we found that the prevalence of diabetes and thyroid-related serum antibodies was 11.1% and 14.4%, respectively. Like antiendomysium autoantibodies, these organ-specific antibodies seem to be gluten-dependent and tend to disappear during a gluten-free diet.