Autoantibodies in Type 1 Diabetes: A Retrospective Study of Children Diagnosed Under Ten Years of Age

INTRODUCTION: Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by a selective loss of pancreatic ?-cells with a disproportionate recent increase at ages under 5-years old. Its etiology is multifactorial, to which immune factors contribute through pancreatic autoantibodies. Our main aim is to assess whether the type of pancreatic autoantibody influence the clinical symptoms, glycated hemoglobin and glycemia at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in children diagnosed under ten-years of age. METHODS: Observational, retrospective and analytical study carried out with a total of 95 patients included. We compared two groups (aged ?60 months and >60 months) and each type of autoantibody (positive/negative) regarding demographic, immune, clinical and laboratory characteristics. The autoantibodies studied were islet cell autoantibodies (against cytoplasmic proteins in the ?-cell), antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase, anti-insulin and anti-zinc transporter 8. The impact of autoimmunity, glycated hemoglobin, gender and age on clinical and laboratory parameters of these children was analyzed. RESULTS: Children diagnosed over 60 months had a higher glycated hemoglobin value (p=0.005) and this laboratory parameter was the only one that showed an impact on the initial presentation as diabetic ketoacidosis (CI95%: OR=1.66;p=0.001). The value of glycemia at admission showed to be influenced negatively by age (?=--0.25;p=0.022) and positively by glycated hemoglobin (?=0.35;p=0.001). None of the autoantibodies evaluated seemed to interfere in the clinical and laboratory manifestations of type 1 diabetes. CONCLUSION: Demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics showed no statistically significant differences between two groups of positive/negative pancreatic autoantibodies analyzed. It is crucial to develop further studies in the scope of autoimmunity that allow to structure potential immune phenotypes and assist in the discovery of new therapeutic targets.