A new non-invasive technique makes it possible to detect whether a child has celiac disease with a simple finger stick
Scientists from the ibs.GRANADA have developed a new, simple and non-invasive technique that makes it possible to detect whether a child between 2 and 4 years of age has celiac disease without the need for a blood draw.
Furthermore, this system does not require experienced personnel (although the interpretation must be carried out by healthcare personnel), it is fast (it takes 10 minutes) and inexpensive (10-12 euros per device) and most importantly, in the case of children. , is that it is a less invasive method than blood extraction.
This work has been developed by Maria Vega Almazan Fernandez de Bobadilla, researcher at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Granada, and directed by Jose Maldonado Lozano. Part of their results have been published in the magazine Pediatric Research.
As the author, a pediatrician at the Maracena Health Center (Granada), explains, "the idea of conducting this study arose to try to answer the clinical question that arose from my daily clinical care: what hidden or silent prevalence of celiac disease exists in our setting?"
Silent celiac disease
Silent celiac disease is one that goes unnoticed in the eyes of the doctor because it has minor symptoms that are imperceptible even by the patient himself. Celiac disease is a systemic disease caused by a permanent intolerance to dietary gluten (contained in wheat, barley and rye) and affects people with genetic susceptibility. It manifests itself through intestinal symptoms (intestinal malabsorption, bloating, diarrhea, abdominal pain) and with extradigestive symptoms (skin, joint pain, headache, etc.
Currently, diagnosing celiac disease requires a combination of clinical symptoms, a blood test for positive celiac disease antibodies, and a compatible histological study using intestinal biopsy.
The objectives of the study carried out at the University of Granada were to study the silent prevalence of celiac disease between 2 and 4 years of age, for which they used novel devices that allow the detection of disease markers (autoantibodies) in the capillary blood of the patient.
"A simple puncture of the child's fingertip is enough to extract a drop of blood, which will be deposited in the device. If the patient has the disease, a pink line will appear, similar to that found on pregnancy tests, indicating that the autoantibodies characteristic of the disease are present in their blood," explains Mª Vega Almazán.
Study with 198 children
A positive result from the device will require confirmation with blood tests and measurement of the disease's antibodies using other methods, but a negative result will allow the disease to be ruled out fairly reliably. "As we saw in our study, a negative result from the strip reduced the probability of celiac disease to zero, given its high negative predictive value."
This UGR study allowed the detection of 6 celiac children out of 198 studied (representing a very high prevalence of 3%, higher than the European average), when all of them were asymptomatic or with imperceptible minor symptoms that had not led to consultation with your pediatrician for this reason.
Confirmation of this diagnosis was made in the Children's Gastroenterology Unit of the Virgen de las Nieves Hospital in Granada, where endoscopy and biopsy were performed in these 6 confirmed cases.
"This is a novel study, as few studies have been published in Spain or Europe using these devices in apparently healthy populations," says Mª Vega Almazán. "Having these types of diagnostic methods available in the GP's or pediatrician's office would allow us to identify cases of celiac disease that go undiagnosed due to their atypical symptoms and avoid unnecessary procedures and referrals, since a negative result would prevent the need for blood draws or referrals to a specialist."
Bibliographic reference:
Pediatric Res. 2015 Sep; 78 (3): 280-5. doi: 10.1038 / pr.2015.98. Epub 2015 May 21.
