Diagnosis of autoimmune diabetes in adults using Immunological methods in Khartoum-Sudan

Abstract

Adult's onset diabetes represent a heterogeneous mixture of type 1 and type 2 DM, often difficult to

differentiate between. Such patients may actually have latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA)

which is an autoimmune form of DM, where beta-cell destruction is less aggressive, leading to a slower

development of insulin dependency. Detection of glutamic acid decarboxylase auto antibodies (GADA)

using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA) method is a useful immunological method for

diagnosis of (LADA). The aim of this study was to diagnose (LADA) patients using ELISA method to

detect GADA and to identify patients who fit into the criteria of (LADA) from diabetic patients wrongly

diagnosed as having type 2 DM. The study was cross sectional, conducted in El-Ribat University Hospital,

in Khartoum, Sudan during the period April to May 2012. Fifty 40-60 years old patients diagnosed as type

2 DM were included; all had elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG) not responding to oral hypoglycemic

agents. Results showed that 6% of these patients were GADA +ve thus proving that some patients with

Type 2 DM not responding to oral hypoglycemic agents were in fact suffering from latent type1 DM; using

immunological methods have a beneficial role in diagnosing such patients.