latent autoimmune diabetes often misdiagnosed

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This article originally posted 31 May, 2012 and appeared in

<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/diabetes-in-control-newsletters/lada-and-m

ody> LADA and MODY,

<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/diabetes-in-control-newsletters/public-hea

lth-and-policy> Public Health and Policy,

<http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/diabetes-in-control-newsletters/628> Issue

628

AACE: Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults often Misdiagnosed

Almost half of nonobese adult with poorly controlled diabetes have latent

autoimmune diabetes that has been misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes....

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Ankit Shrivastav, MD, from the Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education

and Research in Kolkata, India, said that, " Young, nonobese, adult-onset

diabetic patients with a negative family history, a rapid deterioration of

glycemic control, and a rapid onset of complications should be screened for

autoantibodies. "

Results from the first 100 patients in the ongoing prospective observational

study found a 48% rate of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), Dr.

Shrivastav reported during the Young Investigator Oral Presentation

Competition.

The results are " sobering, " said -Campoy, MD, PhD, who was

one of the judges of the competition. Dr. -Campoy is medical

director and chief executive officer of the Minnesota Center for Obesity,

Metabolism, and Endocrinology in Saint , Minnesota, and clinical

assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.

All subjects (mean age, 33.2 years) had adult-onset diabetes (diagnosed at

20 years of age or later), an average disease duration of 6 years, a mean

body mass index (BMI) of 18.2 kg/m², and an average glycated hemoglobin

(HbA1c) level of 9.6% with optimal dosing on oral insulin secretagogues

(sulfonylureas), he said.

Antiglutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and islet cell autoantigen 512

(ICA512) antibody testing was performed for all patients. GAD positivity was

found in 45 patients and ICA512 positivity was found in 7 (4 of whom were

also GAD-positive). The 2 strongest factors associated with LADA positivity

were disease duration and family history of diabetes, he said.

Specifically, LADA positivity was associated with a significantly shorter

duration of disease (3.2 vs 7.6 years; P < .001) and with a negative family

history of diabetes. Only 16% of patients with LADA had a family history of

diabetes, compared with 84% of non-LADA patients (P < .001).

Other factors less strongly associated with LADA were younger age (31 vs 34

years; P = .02), lower BMI (17.4 vs 19.1 kg/m²; P = .01), higher HbA1c

(10.2% vs 9.1%; P = .02), and diabetic complications (80.0% vs 34.5%; P =

..01).

Dr. -Campoy stated that, the findings are " a challenge for us to be

more thorough and to make fewer assumptions. " " We need to be rigorous about

defining whether someone has autoimmune diabetes or not, regardless of age.

We have very elderly individuals who have type 1 diabetes and we have very

young individuals who have type 2 diabetes; the only way to know is to

test. " Although autoantibody testing for all diabetic patients is

unrealistic, " a reasonable and cost-effective approach is to identify

patients who have low insulin levels, and then do autoimmune testing on

those individuals, regardless of age. " " I think there are a lot of

individuals who have type 1 diabetes who are not diagnosed in a timely

manner because of the old way of thinking -- that type 1 diabetes is a

disease of the young and type 2 diabetes is a disease of the old. " Making a

timely diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and avoiding a misdiagnosis of type 2

diabetes can have important long-term implications for patients, he

explained.

" In the future, we might have disease-modifying interventions for type 1

diabetes, so the earlier we can identify these individuals, the better. More

important, they need to be on insulin sooner rather than later. Adding 1 or

2 or 3 medications is not going to significantly improve their glycemic

control in the absence of their ability to produce insulin in their own

pancreas. These are individuals who need insulin right off the bat. "

There might be patient barriers to this diagnosis in particular ethnic

groups, noted Dr. Shrivastav. " Indian diabetic patients are classically

highly needle-phobic and highly reluctant to use insulin, so we have a large

group of patients on oral antidiabetic medications -- many of them on triple

or quadruple therapies. "

Presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist (AACE) May

24, 2012 Okerson T, et al Abstract 209.