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Antigliadin antibodies (AGA-IgA)

Tally

Tally

Senior Member
Messages
367
After more than 3 years of having CFS (I fit the ICC's criteria for ME) I finally tested positive for something: Antigliadin antibodies (AGA-IgA). I read it is a non-specific test for Celiac disease or wheat intolerance.

The thing is, I don't have IBS, and I've never had ANY issues with either my stomach or intestine. My weight is stable, I enjoy food and I always digest food easily.

Can someone please explain to me what's going on? I don't think I can get all the ME symptoms from having these antibodies, can I?
 
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Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
The antigliadin antibodies test shows that there are undigested gluten in the bloodstream. This means leaky gut which may or may not mean Celiac disease. That is why it is non-specific.

To test for Celiac, one needs to test for the celiac specific antibodies - anti-endomysium and anti-tTG are the most common though there are many others. Cyrex labs offers a more comprehensive testing panel. It is completely possible to have a gluten sensitivity and still be negative for the two most commonly tested antibodies. That is why a more complete testing may be required if the traditional tests come up negative.

Gluten sensitivity can cause far-reaching symptoms and not all of them are related to digestion. I have no idea if that is the only thing you have going on but it is not uncommon for autoimmune disorders to occur together. Have you had any other autoimmune testing? Gluten sensitivity can cause inflammation in the body and that can often cause fatigue and other symptoms that may seem unrelated.

The presence of those antibodies in the blood stream means that further testing should be done and I would trial a gluten free diet to see if your symptoms improve. Unfortunately, gluten free is an all or nothing deal. "Mostly" gluten free will not allow the leaky gut to heal and the damage will persist. One incidence of gluten can linger in effects for months. So even if one cheats every month (which would seem reasonable), the damage will not ever be healed. There are many good gluten free books out there now and a lot more gluten free products which makes this a lot easier than it used to be.

I would also investigate colostrum and PRPs which can help tamp down inflammation.

Ema
 
X

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Great answer ema. I'd recommend checking out theglutenfile too. It's an up to date blog
on gluten.

Most of my cfs symptoms were from gluten and other food intolerances. I'm a celiac
with a dq2 gene and I've read neuro problems are common for this gene. They're in the process of
dicovering new genes now tho.

Before becoming a full blown celiac, nothing stayed in, at age 50, I thought I could eat whatever
I wanted and pop a pill here or there for mild gi symptoms. But after 1 year on the gf diet, my ataxia
I had from 1990 - 2006
vanished and I could walk normally again.

Most of my other cfs symptoms have faded too but not my orthostatic
intolerance (oi), fatigue, food and chemical intolerances or pem. We have a section on oi here.

That's just my experience tho. Everyone will heal a little different from gluten damage. Except most celiacs of course will digest food properly again.

Many of us are
looking into mast cell disorders because our symptoms have responded to eliminating
certain foods and chemicals. We have a section on mast cells here.

I suspect my oi is due to angioedema and / or vasodilation from mast cells since mc meds are helping
some of the time. I'm hoping my other symptoms are related too.

Tc .. X
 
Tally

Tally

Senior Member
Messages
367
Thank you both so much. This is a lot of information that I needed.

I don't have OI, so at least I don't have to deal with that.

Ema You say the test shows the presence of undigested gluten in the bloodstream. Doesn't it just show the presence of antibodies, which may or may not be caused by gluten? I read on another thread that these antibodies can be cause by EBV. What do you think?
 
alex3619

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
Ema said:
There is evidence of cross reactivity with gliadin and other neurological proteins so it would not necessarily be gluten. This article discusses that phenomenon:

http://www.jimmunol.org/content/178/10/6590.full.pdf

I'm not sure about the link with EBV. Where did you see this?
Click to expand...

Just to clarify for those who do not look at the paper, this cross reactivity is from the antibodies. Antibodies to gluten might bind to other targets.

In particular these antibodies might bind to synapsin 1 protein: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapsin_I
 
roxie60

roxie60

Senior Member
Messages
1,791
Location
Central Illinois, USA
I also tested positive for Antigliadin antibodies (AGA-IgA) but negative on Celiac blood test. Drs still think I have Celiac even tho blood test specific for Celiac was negative (anyone else hearing this?). Now I'm told the only sure way to verify Celaic is SI byopsy...argh
 
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Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
E

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
sianrecovery said:
@Ema - I know this is an old thread - any idea how long you need to eat the suspect foods in cyrex array 4 prior to testing?
Click to expand...
I'd call them but anywhere from 1-2 weeks to 3 months.

If you get symptoms from eating gluten, you're probably making antibodies and can go with a shorter challenge period.

Also, you can test without a gluten challenge as a follow up to make sure you aren't unintentionally getting gluten in your diet from hidden sources. After being gluten free, the tests should return numbers of antibodies close to zero. This doesn't tell you if you have celiac in the first place though.

Hope that helps!
 
M

Michael_venice

Messages
38
I have had the same issue… high levels of anti-gliadin antibodies, having been pretty militantly gluten-free for a few years. A couple times, I may have had a bit (due to mislabeling), but very very careful. I've heard different things about cross-reactivity, and have seen various lists that sometimes contradict one another. I did eliminate coffee, any dairy and a couple other ones, all without any positive impact on my illness. Then the research papers that talk about those antibodies, how they're found in HIV patients, attack the brain, etc…could it be just our own internal misfiring? I mean, not provoked by something we're eating? This is one of those maddening things, if you look it up, you see information that is just all over the place and it's very hard to sort out what's what. I actually was going to get that Cyrex panel done soon, but my insurance doesn't pay for it…and thought to do the Labcorp full screen for celiac. Now I'm wondering if that won't give me enough info.
 
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