The immunoglobulin class responses to oral poliovaccine in coeliac disease.

An indirect immunofluorescent technique has been used to study the incidence and immunoglobulin class distribution of the serum antibody response to type II oral poliovaccine in patients with adult coeliac disease and matched control subjects. Nineteen out of thirty-eight (50%) patients with coeliac disease showed an antibody response compared with only seven out of thirty-eight (18%) control subjects. Poliovirus-specific IgA responses were observed in sixteen out of thirty-eight (42%) coeliac patients compared with seven out of thirty-eight (18%) control subjects, while poliovirus-specific IgG responses were observed in only ten out of thirty-eight (26%) coeliac patients and four out of thirty-eight (11%) control subjects. No poliovirus-specific IgM responses were observed. The pre-immunization poliovirus-specific IgA titres of those subjects who showed an antibody response were significantly higher in the coeliac group than in the control group.