title: Prevalence of residual B-cell function related to age at onset and genetic profile in newly diagnosed type I diabetics.
abstract: Patients with type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus maintain B-cell function for a varying period of time after onset. This is commonly held to account for post-initial remission. To estimate residual B-cell function we measured plasma and 24-h urinary C-peptide in 68 type I diabetic patients (age range 4-35 years, within 10-180 days of the onset of symptoms, typed for HLA-A, -B, -C and DR loci. A positive correlation (r = 0.26; p less than 0.05) was found between urinary C-peptide levels and the age of the patient. The analysis of variance of urinary C-peptide values on the basis of the presence or absence of DR3 and DR4 antigens revealed that the DR3-positive patients had reduced excretion (15.2 +/- 9.2 SD micrograms/24h) with respect to the others (22.7 +/- 15.5 SD micrograms/24h) (F = 6.35; p less than 0.05). No interaction effect was found in DR3/4 positive patients. Hence, late onset patients appear to have higher residual C-peptide secretion. In the light of these findings, the assessment of B-cell function and genetic profile may be useful in predicting which patients are likely to have remission periods and identifying the metabolic consequences of even minimal endogenous insulin secretion.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Medica B, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galluzzo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pantò
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bompiani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002096:C-Peptide / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D002096:C-Peptide; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens