Auto-immune beta-cell destruction has an important role in the pathogenesis of Type 1 DM amongst African patients. However, Type 2 African DM patients and other diabetes subtypes are largely GAD-AB-negative.

Apatitic tricalcium phosphate was used as support for supported aqueous phase catalysis (SAPC) in the hydroformylation reaction of oct‐1‐ene, at 80 °C in toluene using a dinuclear rhodium complex bearing TPPTS as hydrophilic ligands. The reaction yield is maximum and constant when the hydration rate of the support is ranging from 20 to 35%, before starting to decrease dramatically. The support was examined initially and after catalytic runs by XRD, FTIR, 1H and 31P NMR, SEM and EDS. No change was observed when the hydration rate is less than 35%. Beyond 35%, some decomposition of the support into monetite and stoichiometric apatite occurred; the drop in the yield is essentially due to a loss of droplets of water from the support. The outstanding yield observed with the apatitic tricalcium phosphate, when compared to silica usually used in SAPC, was attributed to the orientation of the catalytic molecule arising from the adsorption of some of the TPPTS ligands onto the hydrophilic surface of apatite.

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Graves' disease is increasing in incidence amongst urban black South Africans. The pathogenic role of thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAb), crucial in other populations, has not been formally evaluated in African communities. We therefore prospectively investigated the prevalence of TRAb in 30 consecutive urban black South African patients with classical Graves' disease at the onset of their illness. This was compared with the frequency of thyroid microsomal and thyroglobulin antibodies in the same patients. Ten patients with euthyroid goitres unrelated to Graves' disease and 10 healthy controls were also studied. Twenty of the hyperthyroid patients were retested 4-6 months after starting carbimazole therapy and ten of them again after 1 year. Initially 83% of patients were positive for TRAb as against 54% for thyroid microsomal and 1 7% for thyroglobulin antibodies. After 4-6 months of treatment, 65% of patients still had elevated (>15% inhibition of binding) TRAb titres, while at 1 year this had dropped to 40% (4 out of 10 patients). All positive patients had relapsed biochemically, while TRAb negative patients were all in remission. We conclude that TRAb are a sensitive and specific marker of Graves' disease in black South Africans and closely parallels the response to medical therapy at 1 year. However, their predictive value for delayed relapse requires the study of a larger cohort of patients over a longer time-frame.

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