OBJECTIVE To evaluate the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of screening for coeliac disease by rapid detection of IgA antibodies to tissue transglutaminase performed in primary care. DESIGN District nurses screened 6 year old children using rapid antibody testing of finger prick blood. They also collected capillary blood samples for laboratory determination of IgA and IgG antibodies to end...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Coeliac disease (CD) is a multifactorial disorder which has an autoimmune component characterised by the occurrence of disease specific autoreactive antibodies against the enzyme tissue transglutaminase (tTG). The aim of this study was to investigate whether binding of antibodies to the enzyme influences tTG activity. METHODS tTG activity was assayed in the presence of imm...

BACKGROUND Phage display antibody libraries have been made from the lymphocytes of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases in which the antibodies are known to play a role in the pathogenesis or are important for the diagnosis of the disease. In the case of Celiac Disease, the immune response is directed against the autoantigen tissue transglutaminase. However, despite numerous studies, the...

INTRODUCTION Selective IgA deficiency (IgAD) is the most prevalent type of primary immune deficiencies, but partial IgA deficiency is even more common. Addison's disease is a rare condition associated with primary adrenal insufficiency due to infection or autoimmune destruction of the adrenals. The association between IgA deficiency and Addison's disease is very rare. CASE AND LABORATORY DATA...

Tissue transglutaminase belongs to the multigene transglutaminase family of Ca2+-dependent protein cross-linking enzymes. Unlike other transglutaminases, it is involved in cell-matrix interactions and serves as an adhesion co-receptor for fibronectin. Previous work established that the fibronectin-binding motif(s) is located within the NH2-terminal proteolytic fragment of the protein consisting...

In the last twenty years serology for the diagnosis of coeliac disease has improved substantially. As the result of our serological studies in 1998 we proposed a gentle, low-risk, and cost eff ective algorithm for diagnosing various forms of gluten sensitive enteropathy, using a combination of diff erent antibody determinations, namely IgA Endomysium antibodies (EMA), Tissue-transglutaminase an...

The addition of primary amines to the growth medium of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii disrupts cell wall assembly in both vegetative and zygotic cells. Primary amines are competitive inhibitors of the protein-cross-linking activity of transglutaminases. Two independent assays for transglutaminase confirmed a burst of extracellular activity during the early stages of cell w...

The present study examines the effects of water soluble extracts of gas-phase cigarette smoke on intracellular transglutaminase activities of intact, murine, bone marrow-derived macrophages maintained in culture. Western blotting of cell lysates utilizing noncross-reactive antisera indicate that mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages contain both tissue-type transglutaminase and factor XIII-asso...

BACKGROUND Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy (APECED) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations of the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene, whose loss of function leads to the escape of self-reactive T cells from the thymus and autoimmunity. APECED patients typically develop tissue-specific autoantibodies and anti-cytokine antibodies. Consequently, var...