Assessment of autonomic function in untreated adult coeliac disease

Table 1 Demographic, clinical, endoscopic and histological data of the coeliac patients

Patient No.	Sex	Age (yr)	Clinical finding	Endoscopic finding	Histology
1	F	71	Weakness, diarrhoea	Absence of Kerckring’s folds	Marsh IIIc
2	M	58	Diarrhoea, weight loss	Absence of Kerckring’s folds	Marsh IIIb
3	F	31	Aphtous stomatitis, IDA	Reduction of Kerckring’s folds	Marsh IIIb
4	F	31	IDA	“Scalloping” of duodenal folds	Marsh IIIa
5	F	38	Diarrhoea, abdominal pain, weight loss	Reduction of Kerckring’s folds, micronodular mucosa	Marsh IIIc
6	M	33	IDA	Reduction of Kerckring’s folds	Marsh IIIa
7	F	24	IDA, Grave’s disease	Reduction of Kerckring’s folds	Marsh IIIa
8	F	32	IDA, weakness	Reduction of Kerckring’s folds	Marsh IIIa

Abbreviations: IDA: iron-deficiency anaemia.

Table 2 Non-invasive tests in the studied coeliac population

Patient No.	AGA IgA	AGA IgG	EMA	Anti-tTG	Sorbitol H2-BT
1	+	+	+	+	+
2	+	+	+	+	+
3	+	+	+	+	+
4	+	+	-	-	+
5	+	+	+	+	+
6	+	+	-	+	+
7	-	-	+	-	+
8	+	-	-	+	+

Abbreviations: AGA: Anti-gliadin antibodies; EMA: anti-endomysium antibodies; anti-tTG: anti-tissue transglutaminase; H2-BT: Hydrogen2-breath test.

Table 3 Evaluation of autonomic function in coeliac patients and control group

Group	LS	VR	DB	△PAS Handgrip	△PAD Handgrip
Coeliac disease	1.22 ± 0.1	1.73 ± 0.38	35.5 ± 16.4	35.7 ± 16.4	24.6 ± 13.2
Control group	1.24 ± 0.19	1.62 ± 0.25	32.5 ± 7.67	55.5 ± 24.2	27.1 ± 11.1
P	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS

LS: Lying-to-standing; VR: Valsalva reaction; DB: Deep breathing.

Table 4 Evaluation of Heart rate variance in coeliac patients and control group

Group	LF Clino	LF Ortho	HF Clino	HF Ortho	LF/HF Clino	LF/HF Ortho
Coeliac disease	35.9 ± 18.1	73.5 ± 15.3	35.7 ± 18.9	13.21 ± 9.3	1.56 ± 1.85	8.63 ± 6.34
Control group	52.8 ± 21.0	67.1 ± 25.9	31.1 ± 15.6	17.90 ± 12.9	2.35 ± 1.65	6.94 ± 5.5
P	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS

Table 5 Overall results of autonomic tests in coeliac patients

Patient No.	Basal SBP	Basal DBP	Ortho SBP	Ortho DBP	Clino. LF	Ortho. LF	Clino. HF	Ortho.HF	Clino. LF/HF	Ortho. LF/HF	LS	VR	DB	Syst. SH	Diast.SH	Syst. Tilt Test	Diast. Tilt Test
1	127	82	120	82	40.99	61.65	48.00	32.82	0.85	1.88	1.03	1.46	19.2	54	27	-9	7.00
2	130	87	135	87	21.41	60.74	30.09	10.73	0.71	5.66	1.37	1.90	35.9	36	14	-9	5.00
3	130	80	125	80	77.04	92.52	12.89	5.96	5.98	15.52	1.20	1.40	33.3	35	25	19	14.00
4	105	70	105	85	38.26	63.87	20.19	17.85	1.9	3.58	1.20	2.30	40.1	39	36	3	7.00
5	115	80	120	82	31.15	58.43	62.16	16.49	0.5	3.54	1.20	1.40	39.3	48	28	7	14.00
6	120	80	108	75	27.16	87.79	27.33	11.00	0.99	7.98	1.18	1.50	40.2	50	47	2	12.00
7	105	70	115	75	20.30	94.00	61.00	4.79	0.3	19.6	1.30	2.30	44.3	7	6	-7	15.00
8	115	70	80	60	30.93	68.81	23.81	6.06	1.3	11.35	1.30	1.60	31.8	17	14	-10	2.00
Mean	118.38	77.38	113.50	78.25	35.91	73.48	35.68	13.21	1.57	8.64	1.22	1.73	35.51	35.75	24.63	-0.50	9.50
SD	10.20	6.52	16.50	8.51	18.13	15.27	18.88	9.28	1.85	6.34	0.10	0.39	7.74	16.37	13.20	10.23	4.87