Anti-actin
antibodies are found in 52-85% of patients with
autoimmune hepatitis or
chronic active hepatitis and in 22% of patients with
primary biliary cirrhosis. In patients with
celiac disease, anti-actin
antibodies correlate with the degree of villous
atrophy. Studies on their involvement in
celiac disease and
dermatitis herpetiformis in Romania have not been done. The purpose of this study was to evaluate of the quality of
IgG anti-
F-actin antibodies (
IgG-AAA) tests compared with
IgA tissue transglutaminase antibodies (
IgA-TgA) having
IgA endomysial
antibody (IgA-EmA) as gold standard in
celiac disease and
dermatitis herpetiformis and to see if there is any relationship between them. The study included 70 pediatric patients with
celiac disease under
gluten-free diets and 10 adult patients with
dermatitis herpetiformis, during 2010. The
IgG-AAA
antibodies levels were determined by ELISA. Assessing the qualities of
IgG-AAA compared to
IgA-TgA, we obtained the following values sensitivity (Se) 27.8%, specificity (Sp) 79.4%, respectively Se 88.9%, Sp 79.4% in
celiac disease and Se 33.3%, Sp 100%, respectively Se 100%, Sp 100% in
dermatitis herpetiformis. Also, there was a prevalence of 24.3% and 30% of
IgG-AAA in the two groups of patients, but no statistically significant associations were found. Therefore, we concluded that
IgG-AAA can not replace
IgA-TgA in children patients with
celiac disease under
gluten-free diets and in adult patients with
dermatitis herpetiformis. AAA-
IgG serum activity in both diseases exist, but without a relationship of association with them.