[acb-diabetics] latent autoimmune diabetes often misdiagnosed

[Patricia LaFrance-Wolf]

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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 Michael Gonzalez-Campoy, MD, PhD, who was
one of the judges of the competition. Dr. Gonzalez-Campoy is medical
director and chief executive officer of the Minnesota Center for Obesity,
Metabolism, and Endocrinology in Saint Paul, 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. Gonzalez-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. 

 

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