Celiac disease and severe vitamin D deficiency: the case for anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody screening.

Abstract

The current cross-sectional study aimed to see if severe vitamin D deficiency is associated with celiac disease (CD) among Saudi adolescent girls. A total 200 adolescent females aged 13-19years old with vitamin D deficiency (serum 25(OH)D < 50nmol/l) were screened for IgA tTG (anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies). Of the 200 girls, 9 (4.5%) were positive for IgA tTG antibodies; all of whom had serum 25(OH)D < 12.5nmol/l. A strong significant inverse association was observed between tTG antibody levels and serum 25(OH)D (R = - 0.53; p < 0.001) among antibody negative participants. Finally, participants with positive IgA tTG antibodies was 37.2 times higher for participants with 25(OH)D < 12.5nmol/l than those whose vitamin D status was higher [OR = 37.2 (95% CI 4.6-299.7) (p = 0.0002)]. The data suggests that CD maybe a risk factor for severe vitamin D deficiency and that patients presenting with very low levels of 25(OH)D of less than 12.5nmol/l-in the absence of an obvious cause-may need to be screened for CD.