Summary
Patients with type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus maintain B-cell function for a varying period of time after onset. This is commonly held to account for post-initial remission. To estimate residual B-cell function we measured plasma and 24-h urinary C-peptide in 68 type I diabetic patients (age range 4–35 years, within 10–180 days of the onset of symptoms, typed for HLA-A,-B,-C and DR loci. A positive correlation (r=0.26; p<0.05) was found between urinary C-peptide levels and the age of the patient. The analysis of variance of urinary C-peptide values on the basis of the presence or absence of DR3 and DR4 antigens revealed that the DR3-positive patients had reduced excretion (15.2±9.2 SD μg/24h) with respect to the others (22.7±15.5 SD μg/24h) (F=6.35; p<0.05). No interaction effect was found in DR3/4 positive patients. Hence, late onset patients appear to have higher residual C-peptide secretion. In the light of these findings, the assessment of B-cell function and genetic profile may be useful in predicting which patients are likely to have remission periods and identifying the metabolic consequences of even minimal endogenous insulin secretion.
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Giordano, C., Galluzzo, A., Pantò, F. et al. Prevalence of residual B-cell function related to age at onset and genetic profile in newly diagnosed type I diabetics. Acta diabet. lat 24, 317–323 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02742964
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02742964