Antibodies to nucleic acids in juvenile-onset diabetes

Antibodies to single stranded (SS-) and double stranded (DS-) DNA and RNA were determined by a passive microhemagglutination assay in sera from 80 children with juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus (JDM) and 129 children with asthma. The latter group was chosen for comparison with the JDM group because of their increased susceptibility to viral infection and the nonautoimmune nature of the disease. We found that JDM patients had increased titers of antibodies to SS-DNA (61.3%), synthetic polyadenylicpolyuridylic acid (Poly A-U) (78.8%), synthetic polyinosinicpolycytidylic acid (Poly I-C) (62.5%), and DS-RNA of statolon virus (51.3%) and reovirus (27.3%), respectively, in contrast to asthmatics (15.5, 34.9, 3.9, 20.2, and 2.3%, respectively) or to healthy controls. The difference of the incidence of antibodies among the groups is statistically significant (P less than 0.001). Presence of SS-DNA antibody found in two thirds of cases of JDM further support the increased prevalence of autoimmune phenomenon in that disease. Furthermore, the increased prevalence of DS-RNA antibodies in patients with JDM, found especially in cases of recent onset, is suggestive of an active immune response against the underlying viral replications that may have led to beta cell injury in islets of pancreas.