title: Frequency of the anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase immunological marker in patients with diabetes duration longer than three years in southern Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The anti-GAD (glutamic acid decarboxylase) antibody is considered to be an important marker for type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), with frequency that varies depending on the population studied and the duration of the disease. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the frequency of this autoantibody in a group of patients in southern Brazil with DM1 that had been diagnosed more than three years previously.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analytical cross-sectional study with a control group conducted at the Biomedicine Laboratory of Universidade Feevale.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted between June 2007 and December 2008, and 109 individuals were enrolled during this period. Fifty-eight were DM1 patients and 51 were individuals free from DM1 and without any history of diabetes, who constituted the control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the DM1 group, the mean age was 27 ± 1.7 years and 50% were men. The mean fasting blood glucose in the DM1 group was 208 ± 15 mg/dl and mean HbA1c (glycosylated hemoglobin) was 8.7 ± 0.25%. In the control group, the mean fasting blood glucose and HbA1c were 82 mg/dl and 5.0% respectively. Thirty-seven individuals with DM1 (63.8%) were positive for anti-GAD, and this proportion was significantly larger than in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results show the high prevalence of anti-GAD in the population of diabetic patients in southern Brazil, thus indicating that the antibody was still present a long time after the disease had been diagnosed.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marina Carolina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Gustavo Müller
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Lara
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Linden
authors.forename: Luciane Rosa
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Feksa
authors.forename: Rejane Giacomelli
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Sabrina Esteves de Matos
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Daiane Bolzan
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Berlese
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001938:Brazil; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000276:immunology*; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin