Prevalence of markers of beta cell autoimmunity and thyroid disease in children with coeliac disease

BACKGROUND: Over the last decades, the prevalence of coeliac disease (CD), an autoimmune disorder, rose to 1–2%.

Whether patients with CD have higher risk of developing other autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto thyroiditis, or Graves` disease remains unclear.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of biomarkers of beta cell and thyroid autoimmunity in children with CD.

METHODS: Retrospective cross-sectional cohort study comparing pediatric patients suffering from CD with age and sex-matched healthy controls (HC).

Participant`s serum was tested by immunoassay for following autoantibodies (aAb): TSH-receptor antibodies (TRAb), anti-thyroglobulin (anti-Tg), anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO), anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (anti-GAD), anti-zinc transporter 8 (anti-ZnT8), anti-islet antigen 2 (anti-IA2) and anti-insulin.

RESULTS: A total of 95 patients with CD (mean age 8.9 years; 63% female) and 199 matched healthy controls (mean age 9.2 years; 59.8% female) were included in the study.

For patients with CD, a seroprevalence of 2.1% (vs. 1.5% in HC) was calculated for anti-GAD, 1.1% for anti-IA2 (vs. 1.5% in HC), 3.2% for anti-ZnT8 (vs. 4.2% in HC), and 1.1% (vs. 1% in HC) for anti-insulin.

For thyroid disease, a seroprevalence of 2.2% for TRAb (vs. 1% in HC), 0% for anti-TPO (vs. 2.5% in HC) and 4.3% for anti-Tg (vs. 3.5% in HC) was found for patients with CD.

CONCLUSION: This study suggests a higher prevalence of autoimmune antibodies againstthyroid in children with CD compared to HC, whilst it is similar for pancreatic antibodies.

Prospective cohort studies are needed to first evaluate the occurrence of autoimmune antibodies against beta cells and thyroid over a longer follow-up time and second to explore their clinical relevance.