Prevalence of Anti-Insulin, Anti-IA2, Anti-GAD, Anti-IR Auto-antibodies and Anti-Neu5Gc Antibodies in Diabetic Type I And II Patients

Abstract

Autoimmunity is a major cause of Diabetes, mainly IDDM. Although, inheritance is recognized, the etiology of the disease is not fully underst ood and environmental factors are believed to be involved. Background : A number of auto - antibodies are developed in diabetes type IA but also in diabetes type II. Since, antibodies are identified before the onset of disease; their measurement has been prop osed as a prognostic tool. Neu5Gc is a sialic acid synthesized by animals but not humans and birds. It can be incorporated in human cells and can trigger immune response. High concentrations of anti - Neu5Gc were detected by our team in diabetic patients, p roposing it as a probable environmental factor. = Objective : Anti - Insulin/anti - IA2/anti - GAD/anti - IR auto - antibodies and anti - Neu5GcIgG/IgM/IgA antibodies were measured in 40 type I and 50 type II patients. A probable correlation between the development of anti - Neu5Gc antibodies and auto - antibodies is investigated and their prognostic value is discussed. Results and Discussion : IgG/IgM/IgA auto - antibodies as well as anti - Neu5Gc antibodies were present in 50% of Diabetic type I patients. 88.9% of auto - antibod y positive samples were also anti - Neu5Gc positive and 90.9% of auto - antibody negative were also anti - Neu5Gc negative. Anti - insulin/anti - IA2/anti - GAD/anti - IR IgG/IgM/IgA were present in 13.8% of Diabetic type II patients, 83% of which were also anti - Neu5Gc positive. Conclusion : The results indicate a correlation between development of auto - antibodies and anti - Neu5Gc and introduce anti - Neu5Gc as a probable prognostic factor of diabetes type I