Anti-goat immunoglobulin antibodies in diabetic children at diagnosis and follow-up: comparison with islet cell antibodies and other autoantibodies.
The presence of antibodies reacting with human as well as animal immunoglobulins in sera from recent onset Type I diabetic patients has been recently demonstrated by some of our group. In the present study, the occurrence of these antibodies has been evaluated in sera from 19 Type I diabetic patients, at diagnosis and at follow-up within three years, and from 26 normal subjects, and has also been compared with the presence of islet cell antibodies and other organ-specific autoantibodies. A solid-phase radioimmunoassay has been used: serum was incubated in goat immunoglobulin-coated wells and the binding of 125-I-anti-human immunoglobulin antibodies was evaluated. Anti-goat immunoglobulin antibodies were above the 90th percentile of normal values in all diabetic patients at diagnosis (median, interquartile range, in micrograms 125I-antibody bound/1 serum: 83, 77.5-88, versus 51.5, 44.5-62 in normal subjects, P less than 0.001) and significantly declined with time after diagnosis (P less than 0.001). Islet cell antibodies were present in 79% of patients at diagnosis, whereas at least one other auto-antibody was found in 21% of patients. In the follow-up study the decline in anti-goat immunoglobulin antibody levels was different from that of islet cell antibody positivity. A circulating immunoglobulin reacting with other immunoglobulins is thus present in the early stages of Type I diabetes and may well play a part in the complex immunopathogenetic interactions.
Di Mario
U
U
Clinica Medica 2 (Endocrinologia), University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
Crisa
L
L
Anastasi
E
E
Contreas
G
G
Andreani
D
D
Raponi
M P
MP
Napoleone
E
E
Candela
A
A
Vela
M
M
Campea
L
L
D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006041:Goats / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000032:analysis*; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male
D001323:Autoantibodies; D007136:Immunoglobulins