Estimation of serum iron, serum lipids and serum liver enzymes in celiac disease patients of Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To evaluate the serum biochemical levels in celiac disease (CD) patients.

Methods: It was a cross-sectional study carried out on 70 subjects, including 40 patients with CD and 30 healthy controls. This study was conducted at Jouf University from November, 2020 to October, 2021. The collected blood specimens were used to perform serum iron, serum lipids, liver enzymes, and human tissue transglutaminase IgA antibodies (anti-HTTG). The hematological parameters including hematocrit and MCV were determined to establish the diagnosis of iron deficiency.

Results: Serum iron was significantly lower in patients as compared to the controls. Serum iron, serum HDL, blood hematocrit and MCV were significantly lower in patients than in controls (p = 0.000). Serum levels of liver enzymes (ALT and AST) and serum human tissue transglutaminase antibodies (anti-HTTG) were significantly higher in patients than in controls (p = 0.000). The correlation studies established the negative correlation of anti-HTTG IgA with serum iron (r = -0.991, p = 0.000), hematocrit (r = -0.967, p = 0.000) and MCV (r = -0.946, p = 0.000) in patients.

Conclusion: The serum iron was remarkably reduced in CD patients. A negative correlation was found between anti-HTTG IgA and serum iron, while a positive serum iron was correlated with hematocrit and MCV in CD patients.