All issues > Volume 53(3); 2010

Original Article

Korean J Pediatr. 2010;53(3):414-419. Published online March 15, 2010.

Comparison of clinical and laboratory characteristics in children with type 1 diabetes according to pancreatic autoantibodies

Ji Hae JH Choi¹, Min Sun MS Kim¹, Chan Jong CJ Kim¹, Jong Duk JD Kim², Dae-Yeol DY Lee¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea
²Department of Pediatrics, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan, Korea

Correspondence Dae-Yeol DY Lee ,Email: leedy@chonbuk.ac.kr

Received: November 5, 2009; Revised: January 13, 2010   Accepted: February 18, 2010.

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is any difference in the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with autoantibody-positive and patients with autoantibody-negative type 1 diabetes at initial presentation.
Methods
We analyzed 96 patients under 18 years of age with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. One or both of the pancreatic autoantibodies-glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GADA) and insulin autoantibody (IAA)-were measured in all patients, and we reviewed clinical and laboratory characteristics according to the presence of these autoantibodies.
Results
GADA was examined in 48 of 87 patients, and 55.2% of patients were positive. IAA was checked in 88 patients, and 39.8% were positive. Both GADA and IAA were measured in 83 patients, and 22.8% had both antibodies. The patients who had one or both autoantibodies (autoantibody-positive group) were younger than those not having any autoantibody (autoantibody-negative group). The autoantibody-positive group had lower BMI, corrected sodium level, and serum effective osmolarity, compared to the autoantibody-negative group (P<0.05). Similar differences were found between the GADA-positive and GADA-negative groups. However, there were no significant differences between the IAA- positive and IAA-negative groups.
Conclusion
The prevalence of pancreatic autoantibodies was significantly higher in the under-6 years age group than in the other age groups. These findings suggest that measurement of autoantibodies at the initial diagnosis of diabetes is very useful for detecting immune-mediated type 1 diabetes and providing intensive insulin therapy, especially in younger children.

Keywords :Type 1 diabetes, Children, Autoantibody