title: Secretor state and complement levels (C3 and C4) in insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.
abstract: Lower levels of C3 and C4 components of the complement system have been reported for patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) but not among those with non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM). We have found a significantly higher proportion of patients who are non-secretors of the ABO blood group antigens among patients with IDDM but not among those with NIDDM. As the gene that controls secretion of these antigens is in the same linkage group as that for the C3 complement component, we compared the levels of C3 and C4 of patients with IDDM by secretor state. The mean level of C3c for 45 non-secretors (75.2 IU/ml) was significantly lower than that found for 59 secretors (86.4 IU/ml) (p less than 0.025). The level of C4 among non-secretors (77.1 IU/ml) was also significantly lower than that of secretors (96.3 IU/ml) (p less than 0.025). The significance of these observations is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, University of Edinburgh, Medical School, UK.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Weir
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Collier
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Clarke
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D000328:Adult; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000032:analysis*; D015932:Complement C3c; D003181:Complement C4 / Q000032:analysis*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D003176:Complement C3; D003181:Complement C4; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; D015932:Complement C3c