Family Studies in Coeliac Disease

Abstract

Peroral duodenojejunal biopsies were performed on 114 of 195 first degree relatives of 31 index coeliac patients in 28 families. Twelve of these biopsies were characteristic of coeliac disease. Birth order did not influence the incidence of coeliac disease. The mode of inheritance is not typical of simple Mendelian inheritance but is compatible with a polygenic inheritance with a very high heritability or a dominant inheritance with a very low rate of expression in heterozygotes. The enzyme levels and electron microscopic appearances of the histologically normal mucosa of coeliac relatives was not different from that of a control group.