title: High frequency of diabetes-specific autoantibodies in parents of children with type 1 diabetes. DENIS study group.
abstract: Strategies to identify subjects at risk for type 1 diabetes are largely based on the detection of autoantibodies directed to various beta cell autoantigens. Most previous studies only comprise siblings and children of patients with type 1 diabetes; only scare data are available on the antibody profile in older relatives. In this study, we examined the prevalence of cytoplasmic islet cell antibodies (ICA), antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA), antibodies to the protein tyrosine phosphatase IA-2 (IA-2A) and IA-2beta (IA-2betaA) in 531 unaffected parents of patients with type 1 diabetes, and compared the results with antibody frequencies in 2425 siblings. The frequency of ICA, GADA and IA-2A was substantially higher among siblings as compared to parents of patients with type 1 diabetes (8.0% vs. 4.5%, 8.0% vs. 4.3%, and 4.5% vs. 1.9%, respectively; p<0.01). However, subdividing the probands according to age revealed a high prevalence of ICA (5.5 %), GADA (5.9 %), and IA-2A (3.1%) among parents aged 31 -40 years which was similar to that observed in siblings above 20 years of age (6.4%, 6.4%, and 3.1%). In both cohorts, GADA and IA-2A were significantly associated with the presence of ICA. The combined screening for GADA and IA-2A identified 100% of parents and 91.9% of siblings at high risk for type 1 diabetes (>10 JDF-U). Furthermore, the analysis of antibody combinations revealed that among antibody positive individuals the percentage of subjects with two or three antibodies was even higher in parents (69.0%) than in siblings (58.2%). The present study shows a high frequency of single and multiple autoantibodies in unaffected parents of patients with type 1 diabetes. Our data indicate that GAD and IA-2 not only represent the major target of autoantibodies in young siblings but also in adult relatives. These findings may be important for the design of future intervention studies.
authors.affiliation: German Diabetes Research Institute, University of Düsseldorf. sei@dfi.uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seissler
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Atik
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klinghammer
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Scherbaum
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001324:Autoantigens; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009679:Nuclear Family; D010290:Parents; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D054562:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000276:immunology; D054635:Receptor-Like Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, Class 8; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C516862:PTPRN protein, human; D054562:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases; D054635:Receptor-Like Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, Class 8; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase