Prevalence of celiac disease in nutritional anemia at a tertiary care center

Prevalence of Coeliac Disease in Omani Adults with Iron Deficiency Anaemia of Unknown Cause: Case-finding study

Objectives

This study aimed to estimate the serological prevalence of coeliac disease in patients with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) of unknown cause at a primary healthcare facility in Oman.

Methods

This prospective case-finding study was conducted at the primary care clinics in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman from September 2018 to June 2020. Patients aged 18 to 55 years, with a haemoglobin (Hb) level <11.5 g/dL for males and <11.0 g/dL for females and a ferritin level <30 ng/mL for males and <13 ng/mL for females, were included in the study. Blood samples were obtained for initial serological screening using serum immunoglobulin (Ig)A level; those samples with normal levels of IgA, IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody (tTG) and IgA anti-deamidated gliadin peptide (DGP) were determined. Positive IgA-tTG test was confirmed using IgA-endomysial antibodies. Patients with low IgA levels were tested using IgG-tTG and IgG-DGP.

Results

A total of 104 patients participated in this study. Eight patients (7.7%) were found to have a positive serological screening result for coeliac disease; of these patients, three (37.5%) had a positive IgA-tTG result. Two of those three (66.7%) had a positive IgA-endomysial antibody. The IgA-DGP result was positive in seven (6.7%) of the 104 patients. Out of those seven patients, two also had a positive IgA tTG.

Conclusion

Coeliac disease is not a rare disorder. There is a need to increase awareness among healthcare professionals about coeliac disease and its non-classical manifestations such as IDA.

Iron Deficiency in Celiac Disease: Prevalence, Health Impact, and Clinical Management

Iron is an essential nutrient to life and is required for erythropoiesis, oxidative, metabolism, and enzymatic activities. It is a cofactor for mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes, the citric acid cycle, and DNA synthesis, and it promotes the growth of immune system cells. Thus, iron deficiency (ID) leads to deleterious effects on the overall health of individuals, causing significant morbidity. Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most recognized type of anemia in patients with celiac disease (CD) and may be present in over half of patients at the time of diagnosis. Folate and vitamin B12 malabsorption, nutritional deficiencies, inflammation, blood loss, development of refractory CD, and concomitant Heliobacter pylori infection are other causes of anemia in such patients. The decision to replenish iron stores and the route of administration (oral or intravenous) are controversial due, in part, to questions surrounding the optimal formulation and route of administration. This paper provides an algorithm based on the severity of symptoms; its impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQL); the tolerance and efficiency of oral iron; and other factors that predict a poor response to oral iron, such as the severity of histological damage, poor adherence to GFD, and blood loss due to mucosal lesions.

Coeliac disease

Coeliac disease (CD) develops in genetically susceptible individuals who, in response to unclear environmental triggers, develop an immune response triggered by gluten ingestion. It is now recognised as a global disease affecting about 0.7% of the world's population. The clinical presentation ranges from malabsorption to asymptomatic individuals diagnosed by screening high-risk groups. Diagnosis requires the demonstration of small intestinal villous atrophy in the presence of circulating coeliac auto-antibodies and/or an unequivocal response to a gluten-free diet (GFD). Recent guidelines suggest that, in a subset of children, duodenal biopsies can be avoided in the presence of strict symptomatic and serological criteria. While the majority of patients respond to a GFD, up to 20% of patients with CD have persistent or recurrent symptoms. There are several aetiologies for residual or new symptoms in a patient with CD on a GFD, with inadvertent exposure to gluten being the most common. Following a GFD can be challenging for patients with CD and understanding the barriers/challenges faced by patients in maintaining a GFD is crucial for compliance. Abbreviations: AGA: anti-gliadin antibodies; Anti-DGP-ab: anti-deamidated gliadin peptide antibodies; Anti-tTG-ab: anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies; ATD: auto-immune thyroid disorders; BMD: bone mineral density; CD: coeliac disease; DH: dermatitis herpetiformis; EMA: anti-endomysial antibodies; FDR: first-degree relatives; GFD: gluten-free diet; HbA1c: haemoglobin A1c; HLA: human leucocyte antigen; IBS: irritable bowel syndrome; LMIC: low- and middle-income countries; NPV: negative predictive value; NRCD: non-responsive coeliac disease; POCT: point-of-care tests; SDR: second-degree relatives; SIBO: small intestinal bacterial overgrowth; T1DM: type 1 diabetes mellitus; ULN: upper limit of normal.

Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Patients With Iron Deficiency Anemia-A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Anemia is common in patients with celiac disease (CD) and a frequent mode of presentation. Guidelines recommend screening patients with iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) for CD. However, the reported prevalence of CD in patients with IDA varies. We performed a systematic review to determine the prevalence of biopsy-verified CD in patients with IDA.

METHODS

We performed a systematic review of articles published in PubMed Medline or EMBASE through July 2017 for the term "celiac disease" combined with "anemia" or "iron deficiency." We used fixed-effects inverse variance-weighted models to measure the pooled prevalence of CD. Meta-regression was used to assess subgroup heterogeneity.

RESULTS

We identified 18 studies composed of 2998 patients with IDA for inclusion in our analysis. Studies originated from the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, Turkey, Iran, and Israel. The crude unweighted prevalence of CD was 4.8% (n = 143). Using a weighted pooled analysis, we found a prevalence of biopsy-confirmed CD of 3.2% (95% confidence interval = 2.6-3.9) in patients with IDA. However, heterogeneity was high (I2 = 67.7%). The prevalence of CD was not significantly higher in studies with a mean participant age older or younger than 18 years or in studies with a mixed-sex vs female-predominant (≥60%) population. On meta-regression, year of publication, female proportion, age at CD testing, and prevalence in the general population were not associated with the prevalence of CD in patients with IDA. In the 8 studies fulfilling all our quality criteria, the pooled prevalence of CD was 5.5% (95% confidence interval = 4.1-6.9).

CONCLUSIONS

In a systematic review and meta-analysis, we found that approximately 1 in 31 patients with IDA have histologic evidence of CD. This prevalence value justifies the practice of testing patients with IDA for CD.

Celiac Disease in Children with Moderate-to-Severe Iron-deficiency Anemia

Objective

To evaluate the proportion of children with moderate to severe iron-deficiency anemia who have associated celiac disease.

Methods

This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among children aged 1 to 12 years of age with moderate-to-severe iron deficiency anemia and control children without anemia.Serum IgA-tissue trans-glutaminase levels were assessed in both cases and controls. All children with positive celiac serology underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and duodenal biopsy; biopsy finding of Marsh grade 3 was considered positive for celiac disease.

Results

There were 152 anemic children and 152 controls with mean (SD) hemoglobinof 7.7 (1.8) and 12.2 (0.74) g/dL, respectively. 16 (10.5%) cases and 3 (2%) control patients had positive serology for celiac disease [OR (95% CI) 5.33 (1.52-18.67), P=0.007]. Six (3.9%) children with iron-deficiency anemia and none of the controls had biopsy features diagnostic of celiac disease.

Conclusion

In the Northern Indian tertiary-care hospital outpatient setting, Celiac disease was associated with 4% of children presenting with moderate-to-severe anemia.

Prevalence of occult celiac disease in females with iron deficiency in the United States: an NHANES analysis

Aim: The prevalence of celiac disease (CD) in patients with iron deficiency (ID) is estimated at 0–6% in European countries. The prevalence of celiac disease in patients with iron deficiency in the USA is unknown. Given the treatable nature of gluten hypersensitivity, estimating the prevalence of CD in patients with ID can help to determine the need to screen these patients for occult CD.

Methods: Data were obtained from the NHANES database, a nationally representative health survey conducted from 2009 to 2010. We included 2,105 females aged 6 years or older. Iron deficiency was defined as serum ferritin level <20 ng/ml and considered positive for celiac disease when subjects were tested positive for both immunoglobulin A (IgA) tissue transglutaminase antibody and IgA endomysial antibody. Subjects were divided between two groups (ID and non-ID). The association of CD and ID, which was the primary outcome, was obtained after adjusting for other covariates using logistic regression.

Results: Among the sample of 2,105 subjects, 569 had ID and 1536 did not have ID. Five people were identified as having CD among the ID group, as were two people in the non-ID group. After adjusting for selected covariates, the prevalence of CD was higher in female subjects with ID with OR of 12.5 (95% CI 1.74–90).

Conclusions: The overall prevalence of celiac disease in the USA’ female population is low, however, the prevalence is higher in subjects with iron deficiency. Further prospective studies are needed to validate our findings.

Cost effectiveness of routine duodenal biopsies in iron deficiency anemia

AIM

To investigate the cost effectiveness of routine small bowel biopsies (SBBs) in patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) independent of their celiac disease (CD) serology test results.

METHODS

We used a state transition Markov model. Two strategies were compared: routine SBBs during esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in all patients with IDA regardless their celiac serology status (strategy A) vs SBBs only in IDA patients with positive serology (strategy B). The main outcomes were quality adjusted life years (QALY), average cost and the incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER). One way sensitivity analysis was performed on all variables and two way sensitivity analysis on selected variables were done. In order to validate the results, a Monte Carlo simulation of 100 sample trials with 10, and an acceptability curve were performed.

RESULTS

Strategy A of routine SBBs yielded 19.888 QALYs with a cost of $218.10 compared to 19.887 QALYs and $234.17 in strategy B. In terms of cost-effectiveness, strategy A was the dominant strategy, as long as the cost of SBBs stayed less than $67. In addition, the ICER of strategy A was preferable, providing the cost of biopsy stays under $77. Monte Carlo simulation demonstrated that strategy A yielded the same QALY but with lower costs than strategy B.

CONCLUSION

Our model suggests that EGD with routine SBBs is a cost-effective approach with improved QALYs in patients with IDA when the prevalence of CD is 5% or greater. SBBs should be a routine screening tool for CD among patients with IDA, regardless of their celiac antibody status.

Extraintestinal manifestations of coeliac disease

Coeliac disease is a common disorder that can arise at any age and typically presents with a broad spectrum of symptoms. The disease is thought to be underdiagnosed, in part owing to the fact that coeliac disease is often characterized by associated conditions and extraintestinal manifestations that can misdirect and impede diagnosis. Some of these manifestations are direct consequences of autoimmunity, such as dermatitis herpetiformis or gluten ataxia, whereas others are indirectly related to inflammation and/or malabsorption including anaemia, osteoporosis, short stature and delayed puberty. Any organ from the central nervous system to joints, liver or teeth can be affected. In some cases, extraintestinal symptoms are the only clinical manifestations of coeliac disease or occur in conjunction with diarrhoea and malabsorptive symptoms. An increased awareness among medical practitioners of the variety of extraintestinal manifestations of coeliac disease is essential to improve diagnosis and treatment.