No abstract

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), NIH, Diabetes UK.

The present report describes a modified, rapid acid-stromal method for elution of erythrocyte antibodies. With this method, potent crystal clear auto and alloantibody eluates can be produced. The simplicity of the method makes it readily adaptable to the routine serological laboratory or blood bank. In semiquantitative and quantitative studies, we have found that this method compares favorably with other antibody elution methods. With alloantibodies, the rapid acid elution method and the ether method produced the strongest eluates with the ether eluates being slightly more potent than the rapid eluated. By contrast, with autoantibodies the rapid method was clearly superior, producing much stronger IgG erythrocyte coating as judged by the 125I antiglobulin test.

Relatives from different European countries have similar rates of islet autoimmunity despite wide variation in the background incidence of childhood diabetes, and male excess is equally evident in all populations. The male excess of ICA and islet autoimmunity over 10 years of age reflects the higher male incidence of Type I diabetes in this age group, and suggests that boys may be more likely than girls to develop islet autoimmunity during adolescence.

Risk of type 1 diabetes at 3 years is high for initially multiple and single Ab+ IT and multiple Ab+ NT. Genetic predisposition, age, and male sex are significant risk factors for development of Ab+ in twins.