Endomysium antibodies (EMA) are used to diagnose celiac disease (gluten-induced enteropathy).
The procedure
Material needed
- Blood serum
Preparation of the patient
- Not necessary
Standard values
| Endomysium IgA antibody | negative |
| Endomysium IgG antibody | negative |
Indications
- Diagnosis of celiac disease (gluten-induced enteropathy; chronic disease of the mucosa of the small intestine (small bowel mucosa) due to hypersensitivity to the cereal protein gluten).
- Progression parameters (titers correlate with gluten intake and there is an association between titer level and degree of villous atrophy; therefore, suitable for follow-up and dietary monitoring) Interpretation
Interpretation
Interpretation of increased values
- Dermatitis herpetiformis Duhring – chronic skin disease with herpes-like vesicles and usually severe itching.
- Celiac disease (gluten-induced enteropathy)
Other notes
- Serological diagnostics must always be performed with adequate gluten intake.
- A selective IgA deficiency (determination of total IgA) must be excluded beforehand (prevalence (disease frequency) 2%); because in the presence of IgA deficiency endomysium and transglutaminase IgA antibodies may not be detectable.
- Together with the determination of auto-Ak (IgA) against transglutaminase antibodies (tTG) or endomysium antibodies (EMA), auto-Ak (IgA) against gliadin have the highest diagnostic significance in celiac disease.
- Endomysium IgA antibodies, even in isolation, have a high sensitivity (percentage of diseased patients in whom the disease is detected by the use of the test, i.e., a positive test result occurs) 83-100% and specificity (probability that actually healthy people who do not have the disease in question are also detected as healthy in the test) 95-100% for the diagnosis of celiac disease.
- Under a gluten-free diet, endomysium IgA antibody titers should normalize.