The frequency of islet cell surface antibodies in newly diagnosed diabetics from Ethiopia

Forty-three newly diagnosed diabetic patients from Ethiopia were studied for the frequency of islet cell surface antibodies and other clinical features which are relevant to the aetiopathogenesis and classification of diabetes mellitus. In preliminary investigations of a small number of controls and noninsulin-dependent diabetics we found, as expected, no circulating antibodies. Four first-degree relatives of ICSA-positive sibs were negative, too. However, 3 out of 7 known insulin-treated diabetics displayed ICSA in the blood serum. In our study of newly diagnosed diabetics we found ICSA in 39% (17/43). Five patients who were assigned to the NIDDM subclass had no antibodies. 37 diabetics required insulin treatment after clinical diagnosis and 16 (43%) of these were ICSA-positive. There were no differences in the assessed clinical parameters between ICSA-positive and -negative patients. One ICSA-positive patient initially controlled with oral hypoglycaemic agents became insulin-dependent within our study period. Our observations in newly diagnosed diabetics from Ethiopia revealed a lower frequency of ICSA than in Caucasians, however, the results provide evidence for the occurrence of auto-immune phenomena in the aetiopathogenesis of diabetes mellitus in this ethnic group.