Background: The relationship between allergy and celiac disease (CD) is not clear.
Objective: The objective of this article is to investigate the association of CD and CD antibody positivity with hay fever, asthma and immunoglobulin (Ig)E sensitization in a general adult population.
Methods: A total of 2297 individuals were screened for CD antibodies and underwent allergy testing. CD antibody-positive participants were invited to undergo clinical evaluation including biopsies. Additionally, biobank blood samples from four population-based studies (6423, 973, 1718 and 1101 participants) with data on IgE sensitization to inhalant allergens were screened for CD antibodies. CD antibody-positive participants were screened for serum IgE against food allergens in three biobank studies. CD-antibody positivity was defined as IgA or IgG tissue transglutaminase ≥7 U/ml and/or IgG deamidated gliadin peptide ≥10 U/ml.
Results: The nine participants (0.4%) diagnosed with CD had significantly higher prevalence of IgE sensitization to wheat and dust mites. The prevalence of CD antibody positivity was 0.8% (18/2297), and these participants had a significantly higher prevalence of IgE sensitization to food allergens (Fx5), egg, dust mites and mugwort. In the biobank studies, the prevalence of CD antibody positivity was 0.8% to 1.2%. One study showed a positive association between CD antibody positivity and IgE sensitization for dog, horse and food allergens.
Conclusion: We found a possible association of CD and IgE sensitization to some food and inhalant allergens in the Health2006 study. In further studies, however, we could not consistently replicate these associations.
Keywords: Allergy; antibodies; asthma; celiac disease; epidemiology.