Majallah-i Dānishgāh-i ̒Ulūm-i Pizishkī-i Bābul (Jul 2003)
Detection of antihuman HSP60 antibody in patients with type 1 diabetes
Abstract
Background and Objective: Type I diabetes is a chronic disorder of pancreas. This disorder occurs as a result of autoimmune destruction of insulin producing beta-cells. Long duration before the onset of clinical symptoms, the autoimmune reactions develop. Therefore, a molecular marker to indicate the initiation of immunological reaction is very critical to identify the people at risk and to take appropriate measures. Since Hsp60 is an antigen involved in the pathogenesis of type I diabetes, this investigation was conducted on detecting anti Hsp60 antibody in various immunoglobulin classes and sub-classes. Methods: In this study 49 recently manifested type I diabetes patients (50 normal control subjects, 23 individuals with high and 22 with low risk for type I diabetes, as deduced from islet antibody status) were included. Seventeen recently manifested type I patients and 15 normal control subjects were analyzed twice with a three-month interval. The serum samples of patients and normal subjects were collected and stored at 20°C until measurement time. Total anti human Hsp60 antibody was determined in serum samples by ELISA, positive sera were analyzed for IgG or IgA antibody as well as for IgG1 and IgG4 sub-classes by ELISA. Findings: The mean concentration of total anti Hsp60 antibody in recently manifested patients and normal subjects were 182.8±218.5 and 142.5±146.6 Au/ml, respectively (P>0.05). Anti Hsp60 antibody concentration means in type I diabetes relative at high risk and relatives at low risk were 83.6 and 133.4 Au/ml, respectively. There was a significant difference between these two mean values. However, the difference between these two values and mean concentration of total anti Hsp60 antibody in normal subjects was not significant. Moreover, the mean of antibody levels determined for IgG, IgA, IgG1 and IgG4 to be considered statistically significant. Conclusion: According to the results, there is significant spontaneous humoral immunity to autologous Hsp60 without detectable association to type I diabetes.
