title: Comparison of the prevalence of islet autoantibodies according to age and disease duration in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigated the prevalence of islet autoantibodies in children and adults with T1DM according to their age and the duration of disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured the levels of islet autoantibodies, including antiglutamic acid decarboxylase antibody (anti-GAD Ab), and combined these with anthropometric measurements and laboratory tests of 137 patients newly diagnosed with T1DM during the last 20 years. The subjects were subdivided into four groups according to their age at the onset of the disease. We then compared the prevalence of islet autoantibodies in the different age groups with the duration of disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 137 patients, 68.9% tested positive for islet autoantibodies (71.4% within 1 year; 67.7% after 1 year of the disease onset). Within 1 year of the onset of the disease, 66.3% of the patients were positive for the anti-GAD Ab, and 35.6% were positive for IAAs. The prevalence of islet autoantibodies was significantly higher in the prepubertal groups than in the postpubertal groups (80.0% vs. 58.3%). The rate of positive islet autoantibodies changed with the duration of disease, and it differed according to the type of autoantibody and the age of the patient.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rates of positive islet autoantibodies were significantly higher in younger than in older patients at the time of the diagnosis of the disease. The positive rates were significantly changed 1 year after the onset of the disease in the preschool and the children groups. So these findings suggest that we need to diagnose type 1B diabetes distinguished T2DM in aldolescent group, carefully.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Hwa
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea. ; Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Chonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute of Chonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Min Sun
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea. ; Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Chonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute of Chonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Dae-Yeol
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Glutamic acid decarboxylase; Insulin autoantibody; Islet autoantibody; Type 1 diabetes mellitus