TITLE:
The Prevalence of Autoantibodies in Saudis Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
AUTHORS:
K. S. Aljabri, S. A. Bokhari, K. Alqurashi
KEYWORDS:
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus; Autoantibodies; Prevalence; Saudi Arabia
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases,
Vol.3 No.2,
May
23,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: Type 1 Diabetes mellitus (T1DM) results from a cellular-mediated autoimmune
destruction of the β-cells of the
pancreas. We designed this study to determine the
prevalence of autoantibodies among Saudis patients with T1DM. Methods: Glutamic
acid decarboxylase antibodies (GADA), antibodies to Islet cell (ICA) and
Insulin (IAA) were measured in 171 Saudis patients with T1DM. Results: There were 171 patients with T1DM, 71 males (41.5%) and 100
females (58.5%). The mean age was 20.8 ± 6.6 and the mean diabetes duration
was 7.7 ± 5.7. GADA, ICA and IAA were detected in 53.8%, 32.2% and 76%
respectively. GADA, ICA and IAA were nonsignificantly more frequent in female
and GADA and IAA were significantly more frequent in those younger than 20
years of age. Subjects testing positive for GADA had higher levels of ICA
(42.4% vs. 20.3, p = 0.003) and IAA (79.3% vs. 72.2, p = 0.3)
than those negative for GADA. Multiple antibodies (≥2) were observed more often
in patients under the age of 20 years. There were nonsignificant differences in
the prevalence of multiple antibodies between both genders. Multiple logistic regression
analysis showed a significant independent positive relationship between the
serum positivity of GADA, ICA and Multiple antibodies (≥2) with diabetes
duration (0.02, p = 0.03, 0.02, p = 0.01 and 0.01, p = 0.04
respectively). Conclusions: The prevalence of
autoantibodies in Saudi patients with T1DM is similar to those reported for
diabetic patients in other ethnic groups.