Autoimmune thyroid disease in patients with anti-GAD positive type 1 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency and titers of anti-thyroid peroxidase (Anti-TPO), anti-thyroglobulin (Anti-TG), and anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (Anti-GAD) antibodies in Turkish patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), and to compare the frequency of anti-TPO and anti-TG titers in the presence or absence of anti-GAD. A total of 104 patients including 56 males and 48 females with type 1 DM and their age-, gender-, and body mass index-matched control group, including 31 males and 27 females, 58 cases in total with an age range of 15-50 years, were recruited into this study. In patients with type 1 DM, positive anti-GAD was detected in 30.8% (n=32). In patients with positive anti-GAD, rate of positive anti-TPO was 37.5%; however, in patients with negative anti-GAD, the rate of positive anti-TPO was 9.7% and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.001). In patients with positive anti-GAD, the rate of positive anti-TG was 18.8%. In patients with negative anti-GAD, the rate of positive anti-TG was 2.8%, and the difference between them was statistically significant (p=0.005). In patients with positive and negative anti-GAD, rates of both positive anti-TPO and anti-TG were 15.6% and 1.4%, respectively, with the difference showing statistical significance (p=0.004). Thyroid autoimmunity in type 1 DM patients with positive anti-GAD was apparently higher; therefore, these patients should be followed more frequently and carefully. © 2009 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.