Antibodies to post-translationally modified insulin as a novel biomarker for prediction of type 1 diabetes in children

• Aims/hypothesis We have shown that autoimmunity to insulin in type 1 diabetes may result from neoepitopes induced by oxidative post-translational modifications (oxPTM). Antibodies specific to oxPTM-insulin (oxPTM-INS-Ab) are present in most newly diagnosed individuals with type 1 diabetes and are more common than autoantibodies to native insulin. In this study, we investigated whether oxPTM-INS-Ab are present before clinical onset of type 1 diabetes, and evaluated the ability of oxPTM-INS-Ab to identify children progressing to type 1 diabetes. Methods We used serum samples collected longitudinally from the All Babies in Southeast Sweden (ABIS) cohort tested for the gold standard islet autoantibodies to insulin (IAA), GAD (GADA), tyrosine phosphatase 2 (IA-2A) and zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8A). We studied 23 children who progressed to type 1 diabetes (progr-T1D) and 63 children who did not progress to type 1 diabetes (NP) after a median follow-up of 10.8 years (interquartile range 7.7-12.8). Of the latter group, 32 were positive for one or more islet autoantibodies (NP-AAB(+)). oxPTM-INS-Ab to insulinmodified by (OH)-O-center dot or HOCl were measured by our developed ELISA platform. Results Antibodies to at least one oxPTM-INS were present in 91.3% of progr-T1D children. oxPTM-INS-Ab co-existed with GADA, IA-2A, IAA or ZnT8A in 65.2%, 56.5%, 38.9% and 33.3% progr-T1D children, respectively. In addition, oxPTM-INS-Ab were present in 17.4%, 26.1%, 38.9% and 41.6% of progr-T1D children who were negative for GADA, IA-2A, IAA and ZnT8A, respectively. (OH)-O-center dot-INS-Ab were more common in progr-T1D children than in NP-AAB+ children (82.6% vs 19%; p amp;lt; 0.001) and allowed discrimination between progr-T1D and NP-AAB(+) children with 74% sensitivity and 91% specificity. None of the NP-AAB(-) children were positive for oxPTM-INS-Ab. Conclusions/interpretation oxPTM-INS-Ab are present before the clinical onset of type 1 diabetes and can identify children progressing to type 1 diabetes.

Ämnesord

Medical and Health Sciences  (hsv)

Clinical Medicine  (hsv)

Endocrinology and Diabetes  (hsv)

Medicin och hälsovetenskap  (hsv)

Klinisk medicin  (hsv)

Endokrinologi och diabetes  (hsv)

Nyckelord

Biomarker; Insulin; Insulin autoantibodies; Islet autoantibodies; Oxidative stress; Post-translational modifications; Type 1 diabetes