Antibodies to diabetes-associated autoantigens in Indian patients with Type 1 diabetes: prevalence of anti-ICA512/IA2 and anti-SOX13

We ascertained frequencies of autoantibodies to a suite of islet cell antig ens including ICA512/IA2 and SOX13 in Asian Indians with Type 1 diabetes an d in other forms of diabetes. Autoantibodies to ICA512/IA2 and SOX13 were t ested by radioimmunoprecipitation assay, and results were amalgamated with previous data on antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and to isl et cell cytoplasmic antigens (ICA). The frequency of anti-SOX13 was higher in Asian Indians than in Europids. Overall, the combined frequency for all autoantibodies to diabetes-associated antigens in Type 1 diabetes in Indian s approached the frequency reported for Europids. There was an unexpectedly high frequency of autoantibody reactions to any one of the autoantigens te sted (24%) in fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes, however, individual autoa ntibody frequencies were relatively low. Our data indicate that, whatever t he population studied, testing for multiple autoantigenic reactivities is m ore informative than more limited testing, and that there may be regional ( presumably ethnically based) differences in levels of particular autoantibo dies in cases of Type 1 diabetes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. Al l rights reserved.