Simple Blood Test Could Speed Diagnosis Of Celiac Disease

To celiac diagnose celiac disease – a severe immune reaction to the protein gluten in wheat, barley, and rye – a physician has to take blood and intestinal tissue samples (gastroscopy), an uncomfortable, often painful procedure. Now Norwegian scientists have developed a simple test that may make it quicker and easier to diagnose the disease. The test is based on the fact that in celiac disease immune cells, known as T cells, analyze gluten molecules and decide that they are a harmful bacteria or virus. For the new test, a blood sample is taken, the blood is enriched with certain reagents, and gluten-reactive T cells are counted. People with celiac disease will have a much higher number of gluten-reactive T cells in their blood than non-celiacs.