Common autoimmune biomarkers, thyroid hormonal abnormalities, and beta cells dysfunction in patients with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults with type II diabetes mellitus.

AIM: Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is autoimmune diabetes with a slow progression characterized by the presence of antibodies associated with Type I diabetes. The present study aimed to assess autoimmune characteristics in patients with LADA in Iran. We attempted to obtain a clear view of autoimmune conditions in LADA among our population.

METHODS: This study was sourced from the population-based survey of KERCARDS aiming assessment of cardiovascular risk factors among a great sample of Iranian population who were resident in Kerman, a great province in southern Iran. Among all diabetic patients who were negative for Anti Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD) antibody test, 120 were selected as the controls and among 80 patients who were positive for this test diagnosed as LADA, the recorded files of 57 patients were complete considered as the cases.

RESULTS: The level of thyroxin is significantly lower in patients with LADA compared with the controls so 73.7% and 45% of patients had normal level of thyroxin, respectively. Also, those with LADA had considerably lower levels of both thyroid peroxydaseantibody (TPO-Ab) and C-peptide when compared with non-LADA group. Using multivariate analyses and with the presence of baseline variables including gender, age, and duration of disease, the diagnosis of LADA was associated with lower serum levels of Anti-TPO, C-peptide, and thyroxin, but not associated with the level of Anti-TTG in serum.

CONCLUSION: LADA patients may face with lower serum levels of C-peptide and thyroid-specific antibodies indicating insulin therapy requirement and authoimmune fundaments of the disease, respectively.