Authors

Gholamreza Yousefzadeh a,*, Mohammadhossein Gozashti a, Hamid Najafipour b,Najar Ahmad Gholamhosseinian c, Abbas Bahramnejad d, Mostafa Shokouhi e

Affiliations

Physiology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

aDepartment of Endocrinology, Physiology Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran bDepartment of Physiology, Ph.D. Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran cDepartment of Biochemistry, Ph.D. Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran dDepartment of Internal Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran eDepartment of Epidemiology, Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Aim: Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is autoimmune diabetes with a slow progression
characterized by the presence of antibodies associated with Type I diabetes. The present study aimed to
assess autoimmune characteristics in patients with LADA in Iran. We attempted to obtain a clear view of
autoimmune conditions in LADA among our population.
Methods: This study was sourced from the population-based survey of KERCARDS aiming assessment of
cardiovascular risk factors among a great sample of Iranian population who were resident in Kerman, a
great province in southern Iran. Among all diabetic patients who were negative for Anti Glutamic Acid
Decarboxylase (GAD) antibody test, 120 were selected as the controls and among 80 patients who were
positive for this test diagnosed as LADA, the recorded files of 57 patients were complete considered as the
cases.
Results: The level of thyroxin is significantly lower in patients with LADA compared with the controls so
73.7% and 45% of patients had normal level of thyroxin, respectively. Also, those with LADA had
considerably lower levels of both thyroid peroxydaseantibody (TPO-Ab) and C-peptide when compared
with non-LADA group. Using multivariate analyses and with the presence of baseline variables including
gender, age, and duration of disease, the diagnosis of LADA was associated with lower serum levels of
Anti-TPO, C-peptide, and thyroxin, but not associated with the level of Anti-TTG in serum.
Conclusion: LADA patients may face with lower serum levels of C-peptide and thyroid-specific
antibodies indicating insulin therapy requirement and authoimmune fundaments of the disease,
respectively