Aim:To analyze the status of Celiac Disease (CD) and its Serological Pattern in Saudi Arabia (SA).Methods: Using a retrospective systematic literature review, the status of CD in SA was analyzed from various aspects. The related articles (74) were retrieved by database and journal search. Data were analyzed using the statistical package for social science (SPSS Inc).
Results:The retrieved studies mostly represent multi heterogeneity in terms of journals (42 journal), centers (23 center), mode (12 type), fields (21 discipline). Most publications were found in: Saudi Medical Journal (12 articles), King Saud University, Riyadh (21), cross sectional (18), retrospective (18), Case report (18), Diabetes mellitus(T1DM) (8); while down syndrome (DS), short status (SS), skeletal health and CD prevalence had 3, 5, 6 and 7 articles respectively. Female to male ratio was 1.95/1. Histological evaluation was introduced early1980s followed by serology in 1990s. Biopsy showed the highest usage (in 57 studies), endomysial-antibody (EMA) (34), tissue-transglutaminase-antibodies (tTG-Ab) (29), anti-gluten-antibodies (AGA) ( 18), anti-reticulin-antibodies (ARA) (10). Publications started in 1990 with stable annual number (1-3) until it peaked (10 articles), in 2012, 2016 and 2017.
Conclusion:The current study represents the first and only Systematic Review concerning the status of CD in SA and its serological pattern. We found one review evaluating skeletal health in CD in SA and one Meta-analysis concerning polymorphism association with CD, but no meta-analysis were found concerning the relationship between CD and other conditions such as T1DM, SS, DS and CD prevalence in SA, which will be our plan for separate publications.