Celiac disease and autoimmune thyroid diseases

Celiac disease (CD) is a disease that characterized with small intestinal injury by the ingestion of gluten, the major protein of wheat and similar grains in genetically predisposed persons. The clinical presentation may be seen in a wide spectrum from severe malabsorption syndromes to silent asymptomatic cases. Diagnosis of celiac disease requires the finding of a typical mucosal lesion from small bowel biopsy such as villous atrophy and crypt hypertrophy and recovery of the histological findings and clinical improvement after introduction of gluten free diet. The occurrence of antibodies supports the diagnosis of celiac disease. Prevalence of other autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune thyroid diseases, has been reported to be higher than controls. The coexistence of autoimmune thyroid disease and celiac disease may related to genetic predisposition. Thus evaluation of CD patients for thyroid disorders may improve CD patients’ quality of life and may be important in their clinical management. Patients diagnosed with autoimmune diseases may develop other autoimmune disorders related with different organ systems in consequent years. Clinicians should be aware of this issue and evaluate patients’ for concomitant endocrinopathies.