The Natural History of Gluten Sensitivity: Report of Two New Celiac Disease Patients Resulting From A Long-Term Follow-Up of Nonatrophic, First-Degree Relatives

Abstract

Our data suggest the need to re-evaluate relatives who have been negative on initial screening for celiac disease. Up to now, the progression to severe enteropathy was only observed in relatives who had presented some evidence of gluten sensitivity and the characteristic HLA DQ2 haplotype. Longer longitudinal studies are necessary to obtain definitive conclusions.