Evaluation of a DGP point-of-care test for celiac disease in a pediatric population

Abstract

Celiac disease (CD) is a largely undiagnosed immune-mediated enteropathy. A point-of-care test (POCT) could represent a rapid and cost-effective tool on ruling out CD. The objective of this study is to evaluate retrospectively the performance of a POCT based on detection of IgA and IgG antibodies against deamidated gliadins peptides (DGP). The study was performed on 53 children presenting clinical suspicions of CD, all being investigated by intestinal biopsy and standard serology. The performance of POCT was compared to the diagnostic result obtained from the gold standard of histology and serology. 10 children were diagnosed as CD positive by the POCT. Among the 43 children identified as CD negatives, 37 were correctly identified by POCT and 6 were considered as false positives. No false negative results were observed. The POCT yields a sensitivity and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100%, and a negative likelihood ratio (LR-) of 0 in this selected pediatric population. The high NPV and low LR- ratio indicate that this POCT could be an useful and discriminative tool for excluding CD. This study and the results published so far are promising but need to be confirmed in larger cohort.