Brief Reports
Copyright ©2005 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2005; 11(24): 3762-3766
Published online Jun 28, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i24.3762
Comparison of six human anti-transglutaminase ELISA-tests in the diagnosis of celiac disease in the Saharawi population
Eloy Fernández, Sabino Riestra, Luis Rodrigo, Carlos Blanco, Antonio López-Vázquez, Dolores Fuentes, Maria Moreno, Carlos López-Larrea
Eloy Fernández, Carlos Blanco, Biochemistry Service, Hospital de Cabueñes, 33280 Gijón, Asturias, Spain
Sabino Riestra, Luis Rodrigo, Dolores Fuentes, Maria Moreno, Gastroenterology Service, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
Antonio López-Vázquez, Carlos López-Larrea, Immunology Service, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, 33006 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the kind collaboration of CAJASTUR with Celiac Foundation of Asturias
Correspondence to: Luis Rodrigo MD, Gastroenterology Service, Hospital Central de Asturias, c/ Celestino Villamil s/n, 33006, Oviedo, Spain. lrodrigos@terra.es
Telephone: +34-98-5108058 Fax: +34-98-5273614
Received: November 21, 2004
Revised: November 22, 2004
Accepted: December 20, 2004
Published online: June 28, 2005
Abstract

AIM: Celiac disease (CD) is an enteropathic disorder very prevalent in Saharawi people. Our aim was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of six human tissue transglutaminase (tTG) based ELISA tests in Saharawi CD patients.

METHODS: Fifty-two CD patients and 23 controls were selected from the Saharawi refugee camps in Tinduf. CD patients were divided into two groups according to their anti-endomysium (EmA) status: 41 EmA positive and 11 EmA negative. Sera from patients and controls were tested for human tTG using six commercial ELISA kits. We used receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and areas under the curve to compare the diagnostic accuracies of the six assays.

RESULTS: In general, there are differences in the sensitivity and specificity of the human tTG ELISA assays used. Diagnostic accuracy of tests was significantly improved by adjusting the cut-off thresholds according to ROC plot analysis; the correction of the cut-off with the employment of the ROC curve analysis modifies the decision limit in more than 50% in five of the six kits evaluated.

CONCLUSION: Some of the human tTG ELISAs used in this study have a diagnostic accuracy similar to EmA determination for diagnosis of CD in Saharawi people. However, it is necessary to select the assay with a higher sensitivity and specificity, and recalculate the cut-off threshold using samples from the referral population.

Keywords: Anti-transglutaminase tests; Comparative study; Celiac diagnosis; Saharawi population