This study aimed to characterize diabetic patients incidentally found to be positive for glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GADA) in general practice. Using bridging-type enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we screened 1,040 patients with phenotypic type 2 diabetes for GADA, finding 25 (2.4%) to be positive. However, on retesting, with a median interval of 19 days, 44% of GADA-positive patients turned negative (Disappearing Group). The mean age at diabetes onset was significantly higher (P < 0.05) and GADA titers at first determination were significantly lower (P < 0.001) in the Disappearing Group compared with the Persistent Positive Group. On initial screening, all patients in the Disappearing Group had GADA titers of <6.5 U/mL. The current study showed that a portion of phenotypic type 2 diabetic patients incidentally identified as GADA-positive were falsely positive, and that to avoid the misclassification, remeasurement of GADA is essential in cases showing very low titers.
Keywords: Autoantibody; False positive; Slowly-progressive type 1 diabetes.
© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Diabetes Investigation published by Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD) and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.