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Study Finds Nonautoimmune Diabetes in Majority of African Youth

Sixty-five percent of youth-onset diabetes patients in Cameroon, Uganda and South Africa lack standard autoantibodies, driving calls to overhaul diagnostic protocols.

Assorted medicines of a type 1 diabetic patient are shown at the J.W.C.H. safety-net clinic in downtown Los Angeles July 30, 2007. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
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Overview

  • A Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology analysis of 894 young patients showed that 65% in three sub-Saharan African countries had no islet autoantibodies or genetic risk markers for type 1 diabetes
  • Comparative U.S. data revealed 15% of Black Americans diagnosed with type 1 diabetes exhibit the same nonautoimmune subtype, while White Americans retain typical autoimmune genetic profiles
  • Patients with the novel form displayed higher endogenous insulin secretion and lacked features of type 2 or malnutrition-related diabetes, indicating a distinct insulin-deficient disease
  • Researchers warn that reliance on autoantibody testing and Western-based genetic scores may misclassify up to two-thirds of African youth, leading to suboptimal insulin management
  • Experts are calling for expanded studies into the biological and environmental drivers of this subtype and for updated, region-specific screening and treatment guidelines