Prevalence of HLA DQ in pediatric celiac patients

Celiac disease, also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy, celiac sprue, is a systemic disease of immunological origin with autoimmune features, with GI and non-GI organs symptoms, caused by gluten grains wheat, rye and barley in genetically susceptible individuals. Today, it has been understood that celiac disease is much more complex than a simple malabsorption, a typical enteropathy as well as a disease involving all systems. In addition to gluten as an environmental factor, immunological and genetic factors play a role in the pathogenesis. Specific HLA-DQ genotypes define different risks for the incidence of celiac disease. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the clinical findings of children who were diagnosed with celiac disease and had HLA-DQ alleles and were found to have celiac disease during their clinical follow-up, and to examine their relationship with genetic characteristics. A total of 433 HLA-positive patients and 4 hla-negative patients with celiac disease were included in the study. Of 437 patients, 239 (54.7%) were followed up with a diagnosis of celiac. In our study, HLA DQ2 was positive in 185 (77.4%) of 239 patients, HLA DQ8 was positive in 136 (56.9%) and HLA DQ2 and HLA DQ8 were positive together in 86 (36%) of 239 patients. Four (1.7%) patients did not have HLA DQ positivity. In celiac disease, besides HLADQ, the importance of other tissue groups and non-HLA genes is obvious. Although studies on the diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease are promising, more studies are needed for this disease with a complex nature. Keywords: Celiac disease, human leucocyte antigen, HLA DQ2, HLA DQ8