Gene type confers 26 percent chance of early celiac sign by age 5
Thursday, July 3, 2014 - 11:30
in Health & Medicine
More than one quarter of children with two copies of a high-risk variant in a specific group of genes develop an early sign of celiac disease called celiac disease autoimmunity by age 5. Researchers found that youth with two copies of HLA-DR3-DQ2 had the highest likelihood of disease development by age 5. Of this group, 26 percent developed CDA by age 5 and 12 percent developed celiac disease. In those with one copy of HLA-DR3-DQ2, the risks of CDA and celiac disease by age 5 were 11 percent and 3 percent, respectively. About 90 percent of celiac disease patients carry HLA-DR3-DQ2.