If you've just been diagnosed with celiac disease, which causes damage to your body anytime you eat foods with the protein gluten in them, it's not unusual for you also to have raised liver enzymes. However, it's not clear whether these elevated liver enzymes indicate a true problem with your liver or not. Your doctor will tell you if you need to undergo further testing to pinpoint what's going on with your liver.
Background
In celiac disease, your body reacts to the gluten protein by causing damage to your intestines, eventually eating away at the intestinal lining. This leads to symptoms involving gastrointestinal complaints, such as constipation, diarrhea, weight loss and cramps. However, celiac disease can affect your entire body, including your liver, which also is part of your digestive system.
Meaning
Plenty of people find they have elevated liver enzymes during a routine physical, since blood tests typically check the level of two different liver enzymes, the ALT -- or alanine transaminase -- and the ALS -- or aspartate transaminase -- enzymes. Your physician likely also performed blood work checking your liver enzymes, among other things, when you were diagnosed with celiac disease. Heightened levels of these two enzymes can indicate a problem with your liver. However, many people have higher-than-normal levels of these enzymes from time to time, and in most cases they don't indicate a health problem.
Research
At least two medical research studies indicate that gluten ingestion can cause liver enzyme levels to rise in people who have celiac disease. A study published in 1995 in the journal "Hepatology" examined blood test results from 168 newly diagnosed celiacs, and found elevated levels of alanine transaminase or asparate transaminase in more than 40 percent. Another study, this one reported in the "American Journal of Gastroenterology" in 2011, only found elevated liver enzyme levels in 11 percent of newly diagnosed celiacs. However, both studies noted that liver enzyme levels in people with celiac disease seemed to rise with gluten ingestion -- whether accidental or intentional -- and fall when the patients strictly avoided gluten.
Considerations
Based on these results, it's possible that you may be able to lower your liver enzyme levels if you have celiac disease by sticking to a strict gluten-free diet. To do this, you'll need to eliminate all foods that contain the grains wheat, barley and rye, including baked goods and cereals. Doing this can be tricky, however, because gluten appears in so many different processed foods. Consider asking your doctor for a referral to a dietitian who specializes in counseling patients on celiac diets.
References
- Columbia University Celiac Disease Center: What Are CD and DH?
- MayoClinic.com: Elevated Liver Enzymes
- "Hepatology"; Prevalence of Hypertransaminasemia in Adult Celiac Patients and Effect of Gluten-Free Diet; M. Bardella; September 1995
- The American Journal of Gastroenterology; "Gluten-Sensitive Hypertransaminasemia in Celiac Disease: An Infrequent and Often Subclinical Finding"; Satu Korpimäki; September 2011
