RESEARCH ARTICLE A Point-of-Care test for fac s i

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Celiac Disease (CD) is a systemic immune-mediated dis-order triggered by dietary gluten in genetically susceptible persons and is characterized by a broad range of clinical presentations and variable damage to the small-intestinal mucosa [1]. The active disease is characterized by gluten-dependent auto-antibodies against endomysium and, more precisely, protein type 2 (‘tissue’) transglutaminase, the celiac autoantigen anchored to endomysial collagen by fibro-nectin [2,3]. Detection of these auto-antibodies in serum represents a valuable tool for identifying new celiac patients presenting with only mild gastro-intestinal symptoms, non-specific general complaints or extra-intestinal manifestations, or for screening asymptomatic subjects [4,5]. The prevalence of CD in various populations is around 1 % [6-8]. The burden of unrecognized CD in the Mediterranean area has been estimated in terms of morbidity costs and mortality [9]. The projected number of CD diagnoses in 2020 is 5 million cases (1 million celiac children), with