Autoantibodies in children with coeliac disease.

Anti-reticulin antibody was found in the serum of thirty-two of forty-eight (67%) children with coeliac disease, a statistically significant difference from an incidence of seven of forty-eight matched controls. The antibody was solely of IgG class in 66% of patients and 76% of controls and in the remainder comprised a mixture of IgG and IgA. The antibody could not be absorbed with gluten. One coeliac patient had serum antinuclear factor, and one had smooth muscle antibody. No statistically significant differences in mean IgG, IgA and IgM levels were demonstrable between coeliac patients and controls, or between anti-reticulin antibody positive and negative groups. The presence of anti-reticulin antibody did not correlate with the presence of serum precipitins to a number of dietary proteins.