Gallstone Frequency in Adults With Celiac Disease: Results of a Population-Based Celiac Disease Registry From West Azerbaijan, IRAN

Abstract

Background: Among people who are genetically predisposed to celiac disease (CD), eating gluten, which is part of the structure of many grains, can lead to intestinal tract damage with an inadequate immune response. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the frequency of gallstones in CD. Materials and Methods: In this analytical cross-sectional study, all CD data were analyzed using the West Azerbaijan Population-Based Celiac Registry (WA-PBCR) database. The mainly evaluated criterion in this study was the frequency of gallstone in samples with CD. For evaluating the results, information related to gender, age, body mass index (BMI), bilirubin, and cholesterol level, anti-transglutaminase antibody level, and the frequency of gallstones were extracted from CD files. Results: Overall, 260 patients with CD were included in the study. The median age of the patients with CD was 33 years, and 66.5% and 33.5% of the patients were females and males, respectively. Gallstones were detected in 11 CD-diagnosed cases (4.23%). There was no significant relationship between the frequency of gallstones and age (P=0.193), gender (1.00), and obesity based on the BMI (P= 0.684) in patients with CD. Finally, 3 (1.15%) of the referred patients with the recognition of gallstones were diagnosed with CD. Conclusion: The prevalence of biliary stones in celiac patients may be higher compared to the normal population. Hypocholesteremia is the predisposing factor for gallstones. In general, a significant relationship was found between the frequency of gallstones and bilirubin levels in patients with CD.