TY - JOUR
T1 - Geographic location determines beta-cell autoimmunity among adult Ghanaians: Findings from the RODAM study
AU - Hampe, Christiane S.
AU - Sahabandu, Diomira
AU - Kaiser, Vivien
AU - Telieps, Tanja
AU - Smeeth, Liam
AU - Agyemang, Charles
AU - Spranger, Joachim
AU - Schulze, Matthias B.
AU - Mockenhaupt, Frank P.
AU - Danquah, Ina
AU - Rolandsson, Olov
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - Introduction: Beta-cell autoantibodies are established markers of autoimmunity, which we compared between Ghanaian adults with or without diabetes, living in rural and urban Ghana and in three European cities. Methods: In the multicenter cross-sectional Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study (N = 5898), we quantified autoantibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65Ab) by radioligand binding assay (RBA) and established cut-offs for positivity by displacement analysis. In a subsample, we performed RBA for zinc transporter-8 autoantibodies (ZnT8Ab). Associations of environmental, sociodemographic, and clinical factors with GAD65Ab were calculated. Results: In this study population (age: 46.1 ± 11.9 years; female: 62%; Ghana-rural: 1111; Ghana-urban: 1455; Europe: 3332), 9.2% had diabetes with adult-onset. GAD65Ab concentrations were the highest in Ghana-rural (32.4; 10.8-71.3 U/mL), followed by Ghana-urban (26.0; 12.3-49.1 U/mL) and Europe (11.9; 3.0-22.8 U/mL) with no differences between European cities. These distributions were similar for ZnT8Ab. Current fever, history of fever, and higher concentrations of liver enzymes marginally explained site-specific GAD65Ab concentrations. GAD65Ab positivity was as frequent in diabetes as in nondiabetes (5.4% vs 6.1%; P =.25). This was also true for ZnT8Ab positivity. Conclusion: Geographic location determines the occurrence of GAD65Ab and ZnT8Ab more than the diabetes status. Beta-cell autoimmunity may not be feasible to differentiate diabetes subgroups in this population.
AB - Introduction: Beta-cell autoantibodies are established markers of autoimmunity, which we compared between Ghanaian adults with or without diabetes, living in rural and urban Ghana and in three European cities. Methods: In the multicenter cross-sectional Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study (N = 5898), we quantified autoantibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65Ab) by radioligand binding assay (RBA) and established cut-offs for positivity by displacement analysis. In a subsample, we performed RBA for zinc transporter-8 autoantibodies (ZnT8Ab). Associations of environmental, sociodemographic, and clinical factors with GAD65Ab were calculated. Results: In this study population (age: 46.1 ± 11.9 years; female: 62%; Ghana-rural: 1111; Ghana-urban: 1455; Europe: 3332), 9.2% had diabetes with adult-onset. GAD65Ab concentrations were the highest in Ghana-rural (32.4; 10.8-71.3 U/mL), followed by Ghana-urban (26.0; 12.3-49.1 U/mL) and Europe (11.9; 3.0-22.8 U/mL) with no differences between European cities. These distributions were similar for ZnT8Ab. Current fever, history of fever, and higher concentrations of liver enzymes marginally explained site-specific GAD65Ab concentrations. GAD65Ab positivity was as frequent in diabetes as in nondiabetes (5.4% vs 6.1%; P =.25). This was also true for ZnT8Ab positivity. Conclusion: Geographic location determines the occurrence of GAD65Ab and ZnT8Ab more than the diabetes status. Beta-cell autoimmunity may not be feasible to differentiate diabetes subgroups in this population.
KW - Ghana
KW - diabetes mellitus
KW - glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies
KW - migration
KW - zinc transporter-8 autoantibodies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085150753&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1002/iid3.306
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/iid3.306
M3 - Article
C2 - 32378803
SN - 2050-4527
VL - 8
SP - 299
EP - 309
JO - Immunity Inflammation and Disease
JF - Immunity Inflammation and Disease
IS - 3
ER -