Prevalence of celiac disease in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus in the south of Iran.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Celiac disease is a chronic enteropathy caused by hypersensitivity to gluten. An increased prevalence of celiac disease has been found in children with diabetes mellitus type 1. The large differences in the frequency of celiac disease in different countries show a great regional variability. Our aim was to detect the prevalence of celiac disease in diabetes mellitus type 1 children among southern Iranians.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A prospective study was conducted on 83 diabetes mellitus type 1 children from the south of Iran. They were tested for the presence of anti-tissue transglutaminase immunoglobulin A antibody and total immunoglobulin A level. The patients testing immunoglobulin A anti-tissue transglutaminase-positive were offered small bowel biopsy.

RESULTS

Eighty-three children with diabetes mellitus type 1 (49 females, 34 males) aged 10.38±4.7 years were enrolled. None of the patients was immunoglobulin A deficient. Twelve diabetic children had a high titer of anti-tissue transglutaminase immunoglobulin A (14.4%). In four patients, biopsy was in favor of celiac disease (4.8%).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that the prevalence of celiac disease in diabetes mellitus type 1 children in Iran is more than in America and Europe but similar to that observed in Turkey. The age of the patient and duration of disease had an effect on this prevalence, and more studies should be done to determine the effects of ethnic, genetic and environmental factors such as diet to identify the reasons for these differences.