My nearly 4 year old son just got the following results back from a celiac screening done because his baby brother was recently diagnosed. This child has no symptoms that I am aware of - he did have chronic diarrhea as a baby, but I believe that was due to cows-milk protein allergy and he seems to have totally outgrown that:

AGA IgG 80 (<24normal)
AGA IgA 8 (<20normal)

Anti-Endomeisal
EMA IgA Neg

Anti Transglutaminase
IgG 3 (normal <20)
IgA 2

So only the IgG was positive.
This child eats 2 waffles EVERY day for breakfast as well as at least 3 other pieces of bread a day - total carb maniac and a great eater! So the IgA is not low because of any recent decrease in gluten for sure.

Can this be a IgA deficiency, or does the fact that his IgA was 8 indicate that there is sufficient IgA response?

I would certainly keep him gluten free with these results if he were at all symptomatic like his 11 month old brother, but I just hate to impose restrictions that are unneccesary in a child with very well established eating preferences.

Thanks in advance for sharing your time and knowledge!
Jen

The tests results indicate a gluten intolerance in the least. The fact that his brother was diagnosed with celiac is important, as this son could have the genes and could develop celiac later in life.

Gretchen

The elevated IgG indicates that his immune system has identified gliadin as an invader and boy is it fighting it! 80 is a pretty high count! He is definitely gluten intolerant and should stop eating gluten.

The low IgA could mean IgA deficeincy or it just means he's not developing celiac disease right now.

celiac disease is NOT the only auto immune disease connected to gluten intolerance.

He does not have to be symptomatic for unseen damage to be taking place... he may be prone to juvenile diabetes, or Juvenile rheumetoid arthritis...

For a better understanding of our antibodies and how they function check out Nutramed's definietions. They explain it in terms that I could understand:

http://www.nutramed.com/immunology/antibodies.htm

Here is what they say about IgA and IgG:

"IgA: circulating and secreted on all defended body surfaces, as the first defense against invaders. Secretory (s IgA) is found in large amounts in breast milk, saliva, and gastrointestinal secretions. IgA may be an important and effective antibody in sites other than mucosal tissues, such as the central nervous system. IgA inhibits the binding of micro-organisms to mucosal surfaces, preventing entry. IgA plays a similar role in reducing antigen entry through mucosal surfaces. sIgA deficiency is associated with increased gastrointestinal tract permeability and increased manifestations of delayed patterns of food allergy.

IgG is the major circulating antibody which enters tissues freely, and participates in diverse immune events. The IgG antibodies represent a large vocabulary of antigen recognition molecules. There are four subgroups, currently labeled with number suffixes, (IgG1 to 4). In some mucosal tissues (e.g. mammary glands of ruminants), the IgG1 class of immunoglobulin-producing cells predominates. IgG ( and IgM) activate complement."

Hope this helps!