Celiac disease prevalence in patients with hydatid cyst

Abstract

Aim: Hydatid cyst (HC), which is localized in the liver and lungs in most cases, has been associated with a variety of hematologic and biochemical manifestations. Celiac disease (CD) is a small-intestinal malabsorption syndrome caused by hypersensitivity to gluten in subjects who carry the HLA haplotypes HLA DQ2 and DQ8. This study has attempted to show the connection between CD and HC. Material and Methods: We prospectively analyzed data from 211 HC patients, 62 of whom had extrahepatic involvement of HC; in addition, we also classified the patients’ hydatid cysts by their radiologic features. All patients tested positive for HC by ELISA. Sera from the study population were also analyzed for IgA and IgG with ELISA using human recombinant tTG (AESKU. Diagnostics, Germany); the data were then analyzed statistically. Results: Twelve cases of seropositivity of TTG IgA were found among patients with HC. In the control group, the rate of TTG IgG seropositivity was only 2 out of 211 patients (~2%), which was lower than those with HC. In patients with HC, the mean WBC level was higher in patients with TTG IgA seropositivity compared with those without TTG IgA seropositivity. Younger ages were independently associated with TTG IgA seropositivity in the HC group. Conclusion: This study furthers the understanding of CD risk in HC. If confirmed by future studies, the study’s data will assist in developing optimal strategies for the detection of CD in patients with HC. Understanding the infectious factors involved in CD is important for identifying new approaches to the early detection of CD.