Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is a form of autoimmune diabetes with a slower decline of β cell function and distinct features from type 1 and type 2 diabetes. LADA is also a very heterogenic group. Frequently LADA is associated with other autoimmune diseases especially endocrine diseases.

Aim: To evaluate prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity (TA) and its impact on cardiovascular risk and metabolic syndrome in LADA patients.

Materials and methods: We evaluated 104 (57 females/47 males) patients with LADA (age at onset of diabetes above 30 years, presence of pancreatic antibodies, no need of insulin at least 6 months after diagnosis). Clinical and laboratory data were obtained: weight, BMI, blood pressure, waist, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb). Presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) was evaluated according NCEP/ATP III criteria. Patients were divided in group A with TA and group B without TA.

Results: Mean age of patients was 50.53±11.41 years, mean age at onset of diabetes was 44.03±10.13 years, and mean duration of diabetes was 6.5±4.15 years. TA evaluated by TPOAb was present in 30 patients (28.8%). Triglycerides were 115.17±87.8 mg/dl in group A vs 189.7±115 mg/dl in group B (P=0.002), HDL cholesterol was 54.4±11.9 mg/dl in group A vs 45.08±14.4 mg/dl in group B (P=0.002), total cholesterol was 186.23±40.4 mg/dl in group A vs 210.18±59.4 mg/dl in group B (P=0.04), systolic blood pressure was 127.5±17.9 mmHg in group A vs 136.22±26.2 mmHg in group B (P=0.05), dyastolic blood pressure was 72.5±14 mmHg in group A vs 78.3±14.1 mmHg in group B (P=0.05), prevalence of MetS was 46.6% in group A vs 64.8% in group B (P=0.01); no statistical difference was observed for BMI.

Conclusion: TA identifies a particular phenotype with lower cardiovascular risk and prevalence of metabolic syndrome among LADA patients.