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Objective: Gluten intolerance is a common, immunologically mediated disorder with a widely variable clinical presentation that affects genetically predisposed subjects. Women seem to be more frequently affected although data on sex differences are poor. In this study the prevalence of different clinical pictures according to sex and age is analysed in a large series of patients., Material and Methods: A total of 1436 patients with gluten intolerance were retrospectively considered, diagnosed from January 1975 to August 2001 based on compatible small-bowel biopsy and response to a gluten-free diet, plus immunofluorescent detection of granular IgA in papillary derma for dermatitis herpetiformis. The clinical picture at onset (classic, non-classic, silent) and age at diagnosis (< or = 2 years, > 2 and < or = 14 years, > 14 years) was recorded; 362 parents of coeliac probands undergoing a familial screening were also studied. The relations among sex, age class and symptoms were analysed using the chi2 test with Yates's correction., Results: The overall female/male ratio was 2.3:1 but the inter-sex difference was significant only when the diagnosis was made in adulthood where a significant association between iron-deficiency anaemia as manifestation at onset in adult women (34% versus 7%) was found. Low weight, dyspepsia and hypertransaminasaemia were more common in adult men than women (20%, 14% and 7% versus 13%, 3% and 2%, respectively). Dermatitis herpetiformis was present more frequently in men (16% versus 9%). The prevalence of silent cases was 6% in men and 3% in women. Familial screening showed the same prevalence (9.3%) of current coeliac disease in fathers and mothers., Conclusions: Diagnosis of coeliac disease is more frequent in women but physicians' awareness of sex- and age-related differences in clinical presentation could improve diagnostic performances in men.

Background: A life-long gluten-free diet is the treatment of choice for dermatitis herpetiformis, which is considered to be coeliac disease of the skin., Objectives: To investigate the effects on long-term remission of dermatitis herpetiformis in patients who underwent a gluten challenge and subsequently reintroduced dietary gluten., Patients and Methods: We studied 38 patients (14 male and 24 female) with biopsy-confirmed dermatitis herpetiformis. They had followed a gluten-free diet for a mean of 8 years, achieving clinical remission and intestinal normalization. The patients were asked to reintroduce gluten in their diet and agreed to undergo skin and intestinal biopsies during the follow-up., Results: Of the 38 patients abandoning a gluten-free diet, 31 reported the onset of rash within an average of 2 months. Seven subjects (three males, mean age 15 years at challenge) experienced no clinical or histological relapses (median follow-up 12 years), and lost IgA immunoglobulin from the skin. The two series of patients differed in terms of age at diagnosis (mean age: 26.6 vs. 6 years), the use of dapsone (one of 31 vs. four of seven) and adherence to the gluten-free diet (strict compliance in 26 of 31 vs. none of seven)., Conclusions: Our data suggest that the ingestion of small doses of gluten in childhood and/or the use of an anti-inflammatory drug may modify the immunological response inducing immune tolerance. We report long-term clinical and histological remissions in seven patients with dermatitis herpetiformis after the reintroduction of dietary gluten.

Background: Celiac disease responds to dietary gluten withdrawal, but data on the long-term effects of gluten-free diets are discordant., Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the nutritional status and body composition of adult celiac disease patients consuming a gluten-free diet who were in clinical, biochemical, and histologic remission., Design: We studied 71 patients (51 women and 20 men; mean age: 27 y; range: 17-58 y) and 142 healthy control subjects matched by sex and age. The subjects' height, weight, body mass index, fat and lean mass, and bone mineral content (evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) were measured; a 3-d dietary questionnaire was administered; and total daily energy, fat, carbohydrate, and protein intakes were calculated., Results: The weight, height, and body mass index of male celiac disease patients and the weight and body mass index of female celiac disease patients were significantly lower than the corresponding measurements in control subjects. The fat and lean mass of both male and female patients was significantly different from that of control subjects; however, bone mineral content was significantly lower only in females in whom celiac disease was diagnosed in adulthood. Total energy intake was lower in the patients than in the control subjects (9686 +/- 1569 and 11297 +/- 1318 kJ/d in males and 6736 +/- 1318 and 7740 +/- 1715 kJ/d in females), and the diet of the patients was unbalanced, with a higher percentage of energy as fat and a lower percentage of energy as carbohydrates., Conclusions: Although strictly compliant with their gluten-free diet and in complete remission, patients with celiac disease showed differences in body composition and dietary intakes compared with control subjects. Strict follow-up and dietary advice in terms of the choice and composition of foods seem necessary to prevent malnutrition.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of genetic factors and the characteristics of five monozygous twin pairs with at least one member affected by gluten sensitivity., Methods: Five pairs of monozygous female twins, of whom one or both were affected by gluten sensitivity (i.e., celiac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis), were followed-up for 11-23 yr., Results: Three pairs were concordant for celiac disease: the onset was comparable and synchronous in two pairs; in the third, one member presented an overt malabsorption syndrome, and the other developed iron deficiency anemia 10 yr later. Discordance for gluten sensitivity was found in the remaining two pairs, one of whose members was diagnosed as having, respectively, celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis., Conclusions: As no environmental factors were found to affect the phenotypic expression of the disease, genetic factors seem to play a major role. The presence of overt or latent celiac disease in three of the four siblings of the three concordant twins, and the association with cystic fibrosis in all three siblings of one of these families, further supports this hypothesis.

We studied complement (C') involvement in paediatric coeliac disease (CD) and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) in relation to lesions and function of enteric mucosa and to diet. For this purpose, 50 children affected by CD and 42 affected by DH were subdivided in 3 groups: in the first (I) were included subjects in free diet, in the second (II) children during gluten-free diet (GFD) and in the third (III) subjects after gluten reintroduction in diet. Only in CD we found significant modifications of some C' parameters. In fact C3 and C4 levels increase in II group in GFD (respectively p less than 0.02 and p less than 0.03) and result inversely correlated to an arbitrary score for the evaluation of the enteric histological lesions (p less than 0.02 and p less than 0.01). C3d/C3 ratio levels, as catabolic index of C3, result always greater than normal in both diseases, but significantly decrease only in II group of CD children (p less than 0.02), where they result also positively correlated to the histological score (p less than 0.05). Circulating immune complex-like material is higher in DH, but incidence of pathological values decrease in II group only in CD (p less than 0.04). These data suggest probable significant differences in the pathogenetic mechanisms of CD and DH involving C'.