Determination of enteroglucagon in plasma for detection of celiac disease in children.

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Abstract
To evaluate the plasma enteroglucagon assay as a test for the detection of celiac disease, we have determined basal and postprandial concentrations of enteroglucagon in plasma of children who underwent small-intestinal biopsy because of suspected celiac disease. In the 14 children with untreated celiac disease both basal [81 (SD 33) pmol/L] and postprandial [129 (SD 26) pmol/L] concentrations of enteroglucagon were significantly higher (p less than 0.001) than in the 45 children with other gastrointestinal disorders [24 (SD 9) pmol/L, and 50 (SD 22) pmol/L, respectively] and in the 15 children without gastrointestinal disorders [14 (SD 10) pmol/L, and 35 (SD 8) pmol/L, respectively]. All children with celiac disease had either basal or postprandial plasma enteroglucagon concentrations exceeding the mean + 2 SD of the results for the children with other gastrointestinal disorders. Eight of 10 children with celiac disease in whom both concentrations were measured had increased values for both. In our study the sensitivity for detection of celiac disease was 100% and the specificity 97%. Evidently determination of plasma enteroglucagon concentration is effective in diagnosing celiac disease, thereby improving the selection of patients for small-intestinal biopsy.