Prevalence of silent celiac disease in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis from Northern Sardinia

Celiac disease (CD) is frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes mellitus, autoimmune thyroiditis (AT), and Addison's disease. The frequency of these associations varies with the populations studied. We conducted this study to ascertain the prevalence of CD in patients with AT from Sardinia, an area with a very high prevalence of CD. To this aim, 297 consecutive patients with AT (as defined by elevated antithyroid antibody levels and a positive ultrasound scan) were studied. Immunoglobulin A and G-class antigliadin antibodies were assayed in serum; if either or both were positive, antiendomysium antibodies were determined. If two markers were positive, serum ferritin, folate, and vitamin B12 levels were measured and jejunal biopsy was suggested. Thirteen out of the 14 patients who showed at least two positive markers consented to jejunal biopsy and all of them showed histological features of CD. The prevalence of CD in AT patients was 4-fold greater than that observed in the general population (4.37 vs 1.06%, p