ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Celiac disease (CD) diagnosis can be improved if a scoring system comprising clinical, nutritional, serological and histopathological elements is applied. DQß1*02 and/ or DQß1*0302 alleles can be expected to be more frequent among subjects with the highest scores. OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationship between score assigned to the patient by means of the system developed and alleles associated with CD. METHODS: Scores were assigned to 69 patients (Women: 68.1%; Ages ≤ 60 years: 95.7%) assisted by a multidisciplinary group for management of CD, using an updated version of a previously described score system (CeliacScore 2.0) were correlated with the occurrence of DQß1*02 and/or DQß1*0302 alleles. CD was diagnosed if the assigned score was ≥ 10. RESULTS: 17.4% of studied patients were diagnosed as CD. DQß1*02 and/or DQß1*0302 alleles were present in 56.5% of our cases. Scores assigned to patient's were independent of the presence of alleles of interest (c² = 2.3; p > 0.319). 75.0% of subjects with a score higher than 10 had the alleles of interest. The probability for the presence of DQß1*02 and/or DQß1*0302 alleles was 2.7 in patients with scores ≥ 10. CONCLUSIONS: The described system can be useful in the CD diagnosis. Alleles associated with CD concentrated among those with the highest scores. Scoring system's operating characteristics should be explored in further studies.
