What is gluten?
Many people have adverse reactions to gluten which is part of the protein found in wheat, oats, rye and barley. In extreme cases this manifests itself as coeliac disease. However many sufferers, who would not necessarily be diagnosed as coeliac, find that their health improves dramatically with the removal of gluten from the diet.
It is important to remember that some people have coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity without significant symptoms. Coeliac disease is usually recognised early in childhood, but may disappear in adolescence and reappear later in adulthood.
The gluten antibody test:
Symptoms associated with gluten sensitivity:
It is now known that coeliac disease involves an abnormal immune response in which the body produces specific gluten antibodies to fight the gluten which then react with an individual’s own digestive tract. Elevated levels of specific antibodies can diagnose this reaction.
The following is measured:
Total IgA
Anti-deamidated gliadin IgA (DGP IgA)
Anti-tissue transglutaminase IgA (tTG IgA)
Anti-deamidated gliadin IgG (DGP IgG) 9.1
Anti-tissue transglutaminase IgG (tTG IgG)
Anti-endomysial IgA (EMA IgA
This test requires a blood sample from a blood draw. You will need to arrange a blood draw via your GP or private phlebotomy service. The fee for any blood draw is not included with your test fee.
Samples must be received at the laboratory within 24 hours of the blood draw. Do not book a blood draw on a Friday-Sunday.
Eat a varied diet 2-3 weeks before collecting your sample. Doing so will help to ensure the presence of antibodies to problematic foods. Antibodies to a particular food may be absent if the food was not consumed recently.
If you have been avoiding gluten for some time, one of the antibodies will come up with a false negative reading, so it is important that you eat some gluten-containing grains prior to completing the test.
Do not eat foods that you have a known allergic reaction to.
The following medications may influence the antibody test results: Glucocorticoids (e.g., oral prednisone and/or steroid metered-dose inhaler), chemotherapy, other immunosuppressive agents (e.g., Humira, Rituxan), NSAIDS (e.g., Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Aspirin), anticonvulsants (e.g., Carbamaze.
Antibody testing may be inaccurate if you are a patient with liver disease, severe kidney disease, protein-losing enteropathy, HIV infection or other immuno-deficiency conditions. The test results will be inaccurately influenced if you have rheumatological pathologies associated with the production of heterophilic antibodies, for instance rheumatoid factor (RF).
Do not stop any medication without consulting your GP or therapist.
Blood sample requiring a blood draw. You will need to arrange a blood draw via your GP or private phlebotomy service. The fee for any blood draw is not included with your test fee.
Samples must be received at the laboratory within 24 hours of the blood draw. Do not book a blood draw on a Friday-Sunday.
10 working days.
Your test results will be emailed to you.
All sample reports are for representational and educational purposes only. Biomarkers, references ranges, results, and all other data may differ from actual reports. All data included in no way represents an actual patient. Any comparisons of results to actual patients is completely incidental.
Updated April 2020
