The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 2016 , Vol 58 , Num 2
Carotid intima-media thickness and arterial stiffness as early markers of atherosclerosis in pediatric celiac disease
Arzu Meltem Demir 1 ,Zarife Kuloğlu 1 ,Aytaç Yaman 1 ,Suat Fitöz 2 ,Gökhan Nergizoğlu 3 ,Aydan Kansu 1
1 Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
2 Department of Radiology, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
3 Department of Nephrology, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.24953/turkjped.2016.02.008 The association between pediatric celiac disease (CD) and atherosclerosis is unknown. Our aim was to investigate whether pediatric CD patients have an increased risk of atherosclerosis. We evaluated the premature atherosclerosis by pulse wave velocity (PWV) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). A total of 37 CD patients (20 girls, mean age 13±3.3 years) and 36 healthy age and sex matched controls were enrolled. Mean duration of CD was 47.1±32.3 months and 40.5% of patients had positive tissue transglutaminase antibody (tTg) IgA. Total cholesterol level was lower in CD (p=0.026) and cIMT was lower in tTg IgA antibody negative CD (p=0.030). cIMT was significantly correlated with tTg IgA antibody positivity (r=0.336; p=0.042). Adherence to strict gluten-free diet is associated with decreased cIMT, suggesting that gluten withdrawal seems to have a beneficial effect on premature atherosclerosis. Keywords : celiac disease, children, atherosclerosis, carotid intima media thickness, pulse wave velocity
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