Cytoplasmic islet cell antibodies in type I diabetics in Israel and their first-degree relatives.
The prevalence of islet cell antibodies (ICA) was studied in 172 newly diagnosed juveniles with Type I diabetes and in 300 unaffected first-degree relatives of 93 of these patients. Approximately 60% of the juvenile diabetics were ICA-positive at onset. Most of these patients gradually lost their antibodies, although two patients remained positive for ICA for periods up to 5 years. Complement-fixing ICA (CF-ICA) were found in 20% of the patients having ICA at onset. Disappearance of CF-ICA was rapid, with all patients showing negative values by the end of the second year. In 19 patients ICA intermittently disappeared and reappeared. ICA were found in 17 healthy family members (7 parents and 10 siblings). Although Type I diabetes is relatively rare in both the Jewish and Arab populations in Israel, these findings indicate that it has a similar autoimmune pathogenesis to that found in other populations around the world. The percentage of patients with ICA was as reported elsewhere, but that of CF-ICA was lower; its similarity with that reported for a Mediterranean population in France suggests a possible link with ethnic origin.
D000293:Adolescent; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000276:immunology*; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D008297:Male
D001323:Autoantibodies