Anti‐<scp>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</scp> and perinuclear anti‐neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in coeliac disease before and after gluten‐free diet

Abstract

More than half of untreated coeliacs are anti-S. cerevisiae-positive irrespective of the severity of mucosal damage. Differently from immunoglobulin A, anti-S. cerevisiae-immunoglobulin G persisted in more than 80% after gluten free diet. The high prevalence of anti-S. cerevisiae in coeliac disease suggests that they may be the effect of a non-specific immune response in course of chronic small bowel disease.