Pancreatic Langerhans Islet Cell Antibodies, Serum

Type 1 diabetes, or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, is now widely thought to be an organ-specific autoimmune disease. Sera from type 1 diabetic patients with poly-endocrine disease have antibodies that recognise and stain pancreatic islets by immuno-fluorescence. These sera contain what is known as Islet Cell Antibodies (ICA). Initially, two auto-antigens recognised by ICA were identified, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) 65 and tyrosine phosphatase-like molecule (IA-2). Later on, a third antigen, insulin, was identified. However, pancreatic sections used for ICA testing lose the insulin and C-peptide content during preparation and fixation.

Around 70-80% of diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients have autoantibodies against GAD65 and / or IA-2 making ICA testing a useful tool in the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. In newly diagnosed subjects, up to 90% have autoantibodies to one or more of these antigens. In patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, between 5-10% have circulating ICA. These patients are classified in a third group of diabetics termed autoimmune diabetes in the adult (LADA), type 1.5 diabetes, and slow progressive insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (SPIDDM). Studies have shown that the presence of autoantibodies in an otherwise healthy subject can be used as a predictive marker to identify subjects at high risk for type 1 diabetes

1 ml Serum Stability: 14 Days at 2-8 °C

Negative: < 1/20 Titre