Celiac disease is caused by a permanent intolerance to gluten intake that triggers an atrophy of the villi that line the duodenum, which prevent nutrients being absorbed adequately. It is a disease that affects 1% of the general population. However, it is often asymptomatic or with discontinuous symptomatology over time and with a highly variable clinical spectrum, so it may go undiagnosed.

This disease produces a permanent alteration in the percentage of duodenal intraepithelial lymphocytes (LIEs) populations and studying them provides additional information for their diagnosis and follow-up. In fact, in May 2018, the Spanish Ministry of Health published the new Protocol for Early Diagnosis of Celiac Disease which includes the Inepithelial Lymphogram test to confirm celiac disease diagnosis in complex or dubious cases in order to avoid diagnostic errors, which follow the diagnostic algorithm recommended by the guides.

The Catlab laboratory has been accredited according to UNE-EN ISO 15189 for the study of LIEs using the flow cytometry technique from a duodenum biopsy sample obtained through a diagnostic endoscopy.

“It is a rapid and non-invasive test for patients with numerous advantages, principally specificity to the classical histological study. It is particularly useful in differential diagnosis compared to other enteropathies that also occur with intestinal villus atrophy, as well as in cases where the biopsy is doubtful or falsely negative due to having a discontinuous mucosa affectation. Therefore, the LIEs determination contributes to the diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of coeliac disease," explains Dr. Judith Vidal, Head of Catlab's Flow Cytometry department.

Dr. Vidal adds that it is a test specifically aimed at the hospitals which work with Catlab's gastroenterology services, "especially and principally, for the Gastroenterology Service of the Hospital Universitario Mutua de Terrassa with whom Catlab's Flow Cytometry department has closely collaborated since its inception".

The head of Catlab's Flow Cytometry area points out that for these centres and, therefore, for their healthcare personnel and their patients, accreditation in accordance with the international UNE-EN ISO 15189 standard provides important guarantees: “All of our staff value accreditation as a vital tool for providing the best care and maximum reliability in results to our clinicians, helping to strengthen confidence in our results and the clinical decisions derived from them. Patients receive an added-quality guarantee in the entire diagnostic process. For us, patient safety is paramount".