Prevalence of anticardiolipin antibodies in type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroiditis

INTRODUCTION: High levels of anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies may predict vascular complications that could develop in type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT). However, the clinical relevance of these antibodies in subjects with type 1 diabetes and AIT is unclear. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and significance of aCL antibodies in patients with type 1 diabetes and AIT. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study involved 74 patients with type 1 diabetes (mean age 12.9 ±4.2 years), 64 patients with AIT (mean age 14.1 ±3.7 years), and 35 healthy control subjects (mean age 12.8 ±3.3 years). The levels of aCL immunoglobulin (Ig) G and aCL IgM antibodies were measured by enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assays. Low‑positive and medium/high‑positive cut‑off values were selected for aCL antibody positivity. RESULTS: The prevalence of aCL antibodies was higher in AIT patients compared with diabetic and healthy subjects with low positive levels (P <0.05), while the frequency of medium/high aCL positive levels in AIT and diabetic subjects was not statistically different from that observed in healthy subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed an increased prevalence of aCL antibody positivity in patients with AIT at a low‑positive aCL cut‑off level, while the frequency of aCL antibody positivity at a moderate/high aCL cut‑off level was not significantly different between the groups. We believe that routine investigation of aCL levels may not have clinical relevance in children with type 1 diabetes or AIT.