Abstract

ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND:
Detection of certain autoantibodies and other non-specific inflammatory markers were employed in
to predict an ongoing process of developing diabetes in first degree relatives of T1D patients.
OBJECTIVE:
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the value of monitoring of selected specific and non
specific serum markers in the presumptive prediction of Type 1 diabetes in first degree relatives of
diabetic patients.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
First degree relatives of diagnostically confirmed diabetic patients were used as a test group. Type 1
diabetic patients and non-relatives healthy control groups of both genders were used for comparison.
Sera from all subjects were monitored for glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody, anti-insulin
antibody, complement C3 and C4, C-reactive protein and fasting blood sugar and the standardization
of the maximum and minimum limits of the studied markers level was plotted to reduce the
overlapping in the markers' values between each pair of the studied groups.
RESULTS:
The frequency of seropositivity for glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody was 24.0% in first degree
relatives group compared to 77.1% and 0% in patients and control groups respectively. For antiinsulin
antibody and C-reactive protein, a very few members of the first degree relative group were
positive compared to those in the patients group. The results of C3 revealed a higher than normal
level in 44.0% of first degree relatives group, 65.7% in patients group and 0% in control group. In
contrast to that, C4 showed a lower than normal level in 28.0% of first degree relatives group
compared to 57.1% and 0% in patients and control groups respectively.
CONCLUSION:
Monitoring of glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody, C3 and C4, but not anti-insulin antibody and
C-reactive protein levels may be used as markers for a possible developing T1D in first degree
relatives that precede the elevation of fasting blood sugar in serum. a narrow scale border line in the
quantitative serum values of these markers is helpful in the standardization of this prediction.