© 2004 by the American Diabetes Association, Inc.
Adult-Onset Atypical (Type 1) DiabetesAdditional insights and differences with type 1A diabetes in a European Mediterranean population
1 Endocrinology and Diabetes Unit, IDIBAPS (Institut dInvestigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer), Hospital Clínic i Universitari, Barcelona, Spain Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. I. Conget, Endocrinology and Diabetes Unit, Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. E-mail: iconget{at}clinic.ub.es
OBJECTIVEIn 1997, the American Diabetes Association proposed two subcategories for type 1 diabetes: type 1A or immunomediated diabetes and type 1B or idiopathic diabetes characterized by negative ß-cell autoimmunity markers, lack of association with HLA, and fluctuating insulinopenia. The aim of this study was to examine clinical characteristics, ß-cell function, HLA typing, and mutations in maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) genes in patients with atypical type 1 diabetes (type 1 diabetes diagnosed at onset, without pancreatic autoantibodies and fluctuating insulinopenia).
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSEight patients with atypical type 1 diabetes (all men, 30.7 ± 7.6 years) and 16 newly diagnosed age- and sex-matched patients with type 1A diabetes were studied retrospectively. Islet cell, GAD, tyrosine phosphatase and insulin antibodies, and basal and stimulated plasma C-peptide were measured at onset and after 1 year. HLA-DRB1-DQA1-DQB1 typing and screening for mutations in the HNF-1
RESULTSAtypical patients displayed significantly higher BMI and better ß-cell function at onset and after 12 months. Three patients carried protective or neutral type 1 diabetes haplotypes, five patients displayed heterozygosity for susceptible and protective haplotypes, and seven patients showed Aspß57. We found a nondescribed variant Pro436Ser in exon 10 of the HNF-4 CONCLUSIONSIn our population, there are atypical forms of young adult-onset ketosis-prone diabetes initially diagnosed as type 1 diabetes, differing from type 1 diabetes in the absence of ß-cell autoimmunity, persistent ß-cell function capacity, fluctuating insulin requirements and ketosis-prone episodes, as well as clinical features of type 2 diabetes. Only one subgroup could be strictly classified as having type 1B diabetes. Additional information is still needed to improve our understanding of the mechanisms that finally lead to the disease.
Abbreviations: GADAb, GAD antibody IAAb, insulin autoantibody IA2Ab, tyrosine phosphatase antibody MODY, maturity-onset diabetes of the young SSO, specific-sequence oligonucleoprobe
In 1997, the American Diabetes Association proposed two subcategories for type 1 diabetes: type 1A or immunomediated diabetes and type 1B or idiopathic diabetes (1). Absence of ß-cell autoimmunity markers and lack of association with HLA haplotypes predisposing diabetes mainly characterize the latter subcategory. Individuals with this form of diabetes can develop ketosis/ketoacidosis and exhibit various degrees of insulin deficiency between episodes. Only a minority of patients with type 1 diabetes fall into this subcategory and most are of African-American or Asian origin (24). Recently, some authors have described this subcategory in other ethnic groups, such as Native Americans and Hispanic Americans (5). The initial manifestation of the diabetes in these cases may be ketoacidosis similar to type 1A diabetes, although the course of the disease is unusual as insulin therapy is initially needed to maintain metabolic control and, after a variable period of time (usually within months), good control can be achieved with either diet or oral agents (59). On the other hand, these patients differ from those with type 1A diabetes because their physical characteristics are more typical of patients with type 2 diabetes; they are often obese or overweight at the time of diagnosis and, in most of the cases, there is a family history of type 2 diabetes (5). Little is known about the pathogenesis of type 1B diabetes. It has been suggested that a mechanism other than the autoimmune destruction of ß-cells produces ß-cell failure. After insulin therapy is initiated, there is ß-cell recovery, which is usually short in duration. Other factors such as glucotoxicity and lipotoxicicity, as well as environmental factors, have also been involved (5,10,11). Type 1B diabetes is highly common in North America, especially in areas with a patient population including African Americans and Latin Americans (10). Nevertheless, there is scarce information concerning the prevalence of type 1B diabetes in Caucasians (12,13). It is well known that a variable proportion of patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes are negative for ß-cell autoimmunity markers, and this proportion may oscillate depending on the population (14,15). These patients cannot be included in the subcategory of type 1B diabetes because they usually show clinical and ß-cell function characteristics similar to those with positive pancreatic markers and HLA haplotypes predisposing diabetes (14,1619).
Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a type of diabetes resulting from genetic defects of ß-cell function characterized by an autosomal-dominant inheritance and early age of onset (1). Recently, mutations in MODY genes have been described in subjects initially classified as having type 1 diabetes, lacking pancreatic autoantibodies and high-risk HLA haplotypes (20,21) and in African-American children with atypical diabetes (22). The most frequent subtype of MODY in our area is MODY 3, which is due to mutations in the HNF-1 The aim of the study was to examine the clinical characteristics, ß-cell function, HLA typing, and presence of mutations in MODY genes in a group of Caucasian patients of Mediterranean origin with adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes (type 1 diabetes diagnosed at onset, with absence of pancreatic autoantibodies and fluctuating insulinopenia).
We retrospectively studied eight patients with newly diagnosed atypical type 1 diabetes. All of these patients presented with acute hyperglycemia or ketosis without any identifiable precipitating factor (ketonuria: ketones >150 mg/dl; nitroprusside reaction method) and were initially diagnosed and catalogued as having type 1 diabetes according to the National Diabetes Data Group criteria (26). None of them presented with diabetic ketoacidosis (plasma glucose >250300 mg/dl, arterial pH <7.25, serum bicarbonate <15 mEq/l, and ketones >150 mg/dl). These patients were initially treated with insulin therapy during a variable period of time (usually <6 months after onset of the disease), but none were on insulin therapy 1 year after diagnosis. Five of these patients achieved good metabolic control with diet, and three were under oral agents (acarbose, metformin, or glymepiride). These patients showed negativity for pancreatic autoantibodies and were able to discontinue insulin completely for at least 2 years after diagnosis without development of ketonuria or symptoms of hyperglycemia. During follow-up, these patients showed recurrence of unprovoked ketosis episodes (including those who only presented symptomatic hyperglycemia at diagnosis) or symptomatic hyperglycemia requiring insulin therapy. A group of 16 newly diagnosed age- and sex-matched type 1A diabetic subjects who had been treated in our Diabetes Unit were included as a control group. All patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes in our hospital are treated in an intensive manner with three or four daily doses of subcutaneous insulin: rapid-acting insulin before meals and NPH insulin before dinner/bedtime. They follow a diet adjusted to their age and BMI, and insulin doses are adjusted to maintain preprandial glucose between 3.9 and 7.0 mmol/l and postprandial glucose <10 mmol/l based on four to six daily capillary blood determinations. At onset of the disease, all subjects are included in a 5-day education program for individuals with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. Patients are seen by the same team every 2 weeks during the first 3 months and monthly thereafter until 12 months of follow-up. Patients are instructed concerning glucose goals and self-monitoring glucose control when necessary. Glucagon tests and antibody measurements are determined initially and at month 12. HbA1c is determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HA 8121; Menarini Diagnostici, Firenze, Italy) initially and at 12 months (normal range 3.45.5%).
Autoantibody measurements
Assessment of pancreatic ß-cell function
HLA typing
Screening for mutations in the HNF-1
Statistical analysis Results are presented as means ± SD. Comparisons between the two groups were performed using Mann-Whitney U test for quantitative variables. Comparisons between proportions were performed using 2 test. A P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. All statistical calculations were performed by the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for personal computers (SPSS, Chicago, IL).
Clinical characteristics, metabolic control, and ß-cell function The clinical, metabolic, and ß-cell function characteristics of the two groups of subjects at baseline are shown in Table 2. There were no differences between the two groups in terms of duration of symptoms, insulin requirements, or HbA1c levels. The type of onset was predominantly ketosis in atypical subjects, being ketoacidosis in type 1A diabetic subjects. Subjects with atypical type 1 diabetes displayed a higher BMI; these differences were statistically significant. These patients also showed significantly higher levels of basal and maximal C-peptide. The characteristics of each of the atypical patients at the onset of the disease are shown in Table 3.
The characteristics of both groups of patients 12 months after onset of the disease are shown in Table 4. Patients with atypical type 1 diabetes had significantly higher levels of basal and maximal C-peptide compared with type 1A diabetic subjects.
Pancreatic autoantibodies Considering the frequency of pancreatic autoantibodies among type 1A diabetic subjects at onset, 12 of 16 subjects were positive for islet cell antibodies (75%), 11 of 16 were positive for GADAb (68.7%), 9 of 16 were positive for IA2Ab (56.2%), and 5 of 16 were positive for IAAb (31.2%). As mentioned above, all atypical patients were negative for all pancreatic autoantibodies tested on at least two occasions.
HLA
Mutations in HNF-1 and HNF-4 genesAfter analysis of the 10 exons of the HNF-1 gene, we did not find mutations in any group. When we studied the HNF-4 gene, we found a nondescribed variant in codon 436 of exon 10 resulting in a single amino acid substitution (proline by serine) in one of the subjects with atypical type 1 diabetes (Table 3, patient 1). None of the subjects in the type 1A diabetes group showed this variant, and it was absent in DNA of 80 control subjects. Unfortunately, it was impossible to perform a family study of the patient with the variant.
Our study suggests that atypical forms of adult-onset type 1 diabetes may be detected among subjects of Caucasian origin in a Mediterranean area. Despite an initial clinical presentation compatible with type 1 diabetes, they differ in terms of the absence of autoimmunity, persistent ß-cell function capacity, and fluctuating insulin requirements and ketosis-prone episodes. The identification of such a group of subjects is important not only for correct classification but also with regard to treatment options and prognosis. Nevertheless, strictly speaking (absence of type 1 diabetic HLA-predisposing haplotypes), there is only one subgroup of patients with adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes who fully fit the American Diabetes Association description of type 1B diabetes. Patients with adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes represent a very small minority among all new diagnoses of type 1 diabetes in our area (<10%), in contrast to data obtained in North America, mainly in adult obese individuals of African-American ancestry (5). Although there are some reports from other ethnic groups, data concerning a European population is very scarce (12,13). Although all of the subjects included in our study were initially classified by clinicians as having type 1A diabetes and were treated as such, they displayed some characteristics not usually associated with the most typical form of the disease. Mean age at diagnosis was higher than usually described in type 1A diabetes, as was BMI when compared with age- and sex-matched control subjects, being >90% above normal weight at diagnosis. As in other studies reporting a significant male predominance (5), all patients with adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes included in our study were men. This is in contrast with a 2:1 man-to-woman ratio usually observed in type 1A diabetic subjects aged 1535 years in our population (19). After correction of initial metabolic disturbances, patients with adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes showed a higher basal C-peptide and ß-cell response to glucagon when compared with type 1 diabetic control subjects, and this difference increased after 12 months of follow-up. Therefore, the initial impairment of ß-cell function unable to maintain glucose and ketone production within normal levels is a reversible phenomenon in adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes, although it may relapse later on after diagnosis. In our study, we also included the examination of type 1A diabetic HLA risk alleles (30), because according to the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes of the American Diabetes Association, idiopathic type 1B diabetes should be non-HLA associated. In this context, and from a rigorous point of view, only three of eight patients with adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes included in the study could be ascribed in the type 1B diabetes subcategory because none carried HLA antigens associated with type 1A diabetes. These patients carried protective or neutral type 1A diabetes HLA haplotypes, and the presence of Aspß57 residue was identified in HLA-DQ analysis in all of them. A striking feature was that the DRB1*11 haplotype was also present in all of the subjects in this subgroup, although this haplotype is not very common among type 1A diabetic subjects or in a normal control population in our country (3 and 7%, respectively) (35). In terms of HLA, all but one of the remaining five subjects with adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes carried type 1A diabetic risk HLA haplotypes in combination with protective haplotypes and/or Aspß57. In fact, the presence of a higher proportion of HLA-predisposing alleles in subjects with atypical forms of diabetes in comparison to nondiabetic control subjects has already been described (7,36). Considering this, and despite similar clinical and metabolic characteristics when compared with the former subgroup of subjects, these patients cannot strictly be included in the type 1B diabetes definition. Nonetheless, we cannot explain the exact role the combination of susceptible/protective Aspß57 HLA alleles plays in the pathogenesis of diabetes in this subgroup of subjects. However, HLA-DQB1 codon 57 is a determinant site for peptide binding and for antigen-specific T-cell stimulation and HLA-DQ molecules helping B-cells to produce antibodies (29,37).
The pathophysiologic mechanisms determining atypical forms of type 1 diabetes remain unsolved and may differ, depending on the ethnic background. We herein study the possible role of MODY genes to explain adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes. In this sense, there have been some descriptions of mutations in genes responsible for MODY in subjects with atypical/idiopathic type 1 diabetes (2022). We examined regions encoding for HNF-1 No evidence of autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing cells has been reported or considered as a possible cause of adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes, at least as it is described for type 1A diabetes. In fact, data could suggest that a fluctuating ß-cell dysfunction in concert with changes in insulin resistance could result in a different clinical picture in this group of subjects. Despite the fact that an insulin secretion defect caused insulinopenia, hyperglycemia, and ketosis, in our subjects, the clinical picture clearly contrasts with the idiopathic diabetes forms described in a Japanese population characterized by abrupt and fulminant onset and high serum pancreatic enzyme concentration (38). In agreement with Sobngwi and Gautier (39), in our opinion, adult-onset atypical type 1 diabetes could be more closely related to type 2 diabetes than type 1 diabetes. Age at onset, around the thirties, was higher than that observed in type 1A diabetes and could be comparable to that of young type 2 diabetic subjects, mainly in some ethnic groups with the increasing problem of obesity in the western world. Likewise, overweight/obesity was very common at onset, and the BMI remained significantly higher after 12 months of follow-up when compared with type 1A diabetic control subjects. Therefore, this group of patients with atypical type 1 diabetes probably has a young adult-onset ketosis-prone atypical form of type 2 diabetes that affects a predisposed population with a transitory nonprecipitating impairment of insulin secretion, leading to hyperglycemia and ketosis. It may be related to glucose desensitization and an outstanding sensitivity to glucotoxicity or lipotoxicity. However, all of these possibilities remain to be fully elucidated. In summary, our data suggest that atypical forms of young adult-onset ketosis-prone diabetes initially diagnosed as type 1 diabetes may be detected among subjects of Caucasian origin in a Mediterranean area. Despite having an initial clinical presentation compatible with type 1 diabetes, these patients differ in terms of no evidence of ß-cell autoimmunity, persistent ß-cell function capacity, fluctuating insulin requirements, and ketosis-prone episodes, as well as clinical features of type 2 diabetes. Among this group of subjects, only one subgroup could be strictly classified as type 1B diabetes. With respect to the pathophysiology of this form of diabetes, additional information is still needed to improve our understanding of the mechanisms that finally lead to the disease.
This study was supported by a grant (PI020318) from the "Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo" of Spain. E.A. is the recipient of a grant from the Fundació Clinic per a la Recerca Biomèdica and from the Fundació Universitària Agustí Pedro i Pons. We thank the nursing staff of the Endocrinology Unit of Hospital Clínic i Universitari (Barcelona) for their technical assistance and Belen Juarez for HLA typing. Received for publication October 22, 2003. Accepted for publication January 19, 2004.
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