Skip to main content
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1977 Oct;30(1):16–21.

Soluble immune complexes in the sera of newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetics and in treated diabetics

W J Irvine, S F Al-Khateeb, U Dimario, C M Feek, R S Gray, B Edmond, L J P Duncan
PMCID: PMC1541180  PMID: 606435

Abstract

Soluble immune complexes were detected by the Raji cell assay in seven out of thirteen newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetics, six of whom had islet cell antibodies (ICAb) in the serum. None of the others had ICAb. The titres for a wide range of viral antibodies were similar in these thirteen diabetics as in age- and sex-matched controls, except for antibodies to Coxsackie B4. Six had titres of Coxsackie B4 antibodies greater than or equal to 1:32, but only three of these had evidence of immune complexes in the serum, and these were not correlated with the titres of Coxsackie B4 antibodies. None of these diabetics had antibodies to insulin and none of their age- and sex-matched controls had evidence of immune complexes in the serum.

53% of thirty-two diabetics treated with insulin and 10% of fifty-two diabetics requiring oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA) or diet had evidence of immune complexes in the serum, compared to 6% of control subjects. High titres of insulin antibodies correlated with evidence for immune complexes. There was a stronger tendency for immune complexes to occur in the presence of moderate titres of insulin antibodies when the age at onset of insulin-dependent diabetes was less than 30 years. Out of sixteen patients treated with heterologous insulin for 13 years or more, and who also had late diabetic complications, twelve had immune complexes in the serum.

Full text

PDF
17

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andersen O. O. Anti-insulin-antibodies and late diabetic complications. Acta Endocrinol (Copenh) 1976 Oct;83(2):329–340. doi: 10.1530/acta.0.0830329. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BERNS A. W., OWENS C. T., HIRATA Y., BLUMENTHAL H. T. The pathogenesis of diabetic glomerulosclerosis. II. A demonstration of insulin-binding capacity of the various histopathological components of the disease by fluorescence microscopy. Diabetes. 1962 Jul-Aug;11:308–317. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. COLEMAN S. L., BECKER B., CANAAN S., ROSENBAUM L. Fluorescent insulin staining of the diabetic eye. Diabetes. 1962 Sep-Oct;11:375–377. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dixon K., Exon P. D., Malins J. M. Insulin antibodies and the control of diabetes. Q J Med. 1975 Oct;44(176):543–553. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Egeberg J., Junker K., Kromann H., Nerup J. Autoimmune insulitis. Pathological findings in experimental animal models and juvenile diabetes mellitus. Acta Endocrinol Suppl (Copenh) 1976;205:129–137. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Heding L. G., Rasmussen S. M. Human C-peptide in normal and diabetic subjects. Diabetologia. 1975 Jun;11(3):201–206. doi: 10.1007/BF00422322. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Irvine W. J. Classification of idiopathic diabetes. Lancet. 1977 Mar 19;1(8012):638–642. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)92071-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Irvine W. J., McCallum C. J., Gray R. S., Campbell C. J., Duncan L. J., Farquhar J. W., Vaughan H., Morris P. J. Pancreatic islet-cell antibodies in diabetes mellitus correlated with the duration and type of diabetes, coexistent autoimmune disease, and HLA type. Diabetes. 1977 Feb;26(2):138–147. doi: 10.2337/diab.26.2.138. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Mustaffa B. E., Daggett P. R., Nabarro J. D. Insulin binding capacity in patients changed from conventional to highly purified insulins. An indicator of likely response. Diabetologia. 1977 Aug;13(4):311–315. doi: 10.1007/BF01223271. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Theofilopoulos A. N., Wilson C. B., Dixon F. J. The Raji cell radioimmune assay for detecting immune complexes in human sera. J Clin Invest. 1976 Jan;57(1):169–182. doi: 10.1172/JCI108257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Westberg N. G., Michael A. F. Immunohistopathology of diabetic glomerulosclerosis. Diabetes. 1972 Mar;21(3):163–174. doi: 10.2337/diab.21.3.163. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES