[Thyroglobulin and microsomal antibodies in diabetes mellitus in childhood (author's transl)]

The purpose of our study was to determine the incidence of thyroid antibodies in diabetes mellitus in childhood and to discuss the correlation between thyroid antibodies and insulin antibodies. The sera of 50 children with diabetes mellitus and 437 children as disease controls were tested by thyroglobulin and microsome-coated tanned red cell hemagglutination test (Fuji Zoki Co. Tokyo). One of the 50 children with diabetes mellitus (2%) was positive with antithyroglobulin antibodies and eleven (22%) were positive with antimicrosomal antibodies compared to 0.4% and 1.1% respectively in 437 disease controls. To clarify the association of insulin antibodies and thyroid antibodies in diabetes mellitus in childhood, insulin antibodies were demonstrated by using a modified method described by Wright. One of the 33 children with negative insulin antibody (2.8%) was positive with antithyroglobulin antibodies and eight (24%) were positive antimicrosomal antibodies. No evident correlation was observed between antithyroid antibodies and insulin antibodies.