Table 1.

Clinical, serological and demographic characteristics and distribution of the HLA DQ2 heterodimer in the three groups of Saharawi subjects studied.

	Group I (n = 23)	Group II (n = 41)	Group III (n = 11)
Female sex	15 (65)	29 (71)	9 (82)
Age (yr)
Mean±SD	20±15	17±12	16±11
Range	4-54	2-52	4-40
Typical CD	0	22 (46)	7 (64)
DQA1*0501/DQB1*0201	8(35)	39 (92)	10 (91)
EmA positive	0	41 (100)	0

Group I: healthy controls. Group II: anti-endomysium (EmA) positive celiac disease (CD) patients (new and known untreated CD patients). Group III: EmA negative CD patients on GFD.