Clinical and biological characteristics of diabetic patients under age 40 in Cameroon: Relation to autoantibody status and comparison with Belgian patients

AimsWe investigated the prevalence of diabetes autoantibodies (Abs) in Cameroonian patients and controls, assessed their contribution in disease classification and compared results with data from Belgium.MethodsAbs against GAD (GADA), IA-2 (IA-2A) and zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8A) were assessed in 302 recently diagnosed Cameroonian patients with diabetes and 184 control subjects without diabetes aged below 40 years.ResultsOnly 27 (9%) Cameroonian patients were younger than 15 years. Overall, 29% of patients presented at least one diabetes-associated antibody vs 9% in healthy controls (24% vs 7% for GADA (p < 0.001), 10% vs 3% for IA-2A (p < 0.006), 4% vs 2% for ZnT8A). Ab+ patients had lower C-peptide levels (p < 0.001), were more often insulin-treated (p < 0.002) and were as frequently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as Ab− patients. Only 43% of Ab+ patients aged 15–39 years were clinically classified as having type 1 diabetes in Cameroon vs 96% in Belgium (p < 0.001). Not one Ab+ Cameroonian patient carried HLA-DQ2/DQ8 genotype vs 23% of Belgian Ab+ patients (p < 0.001). Younger age at diagnosis and antibody positivity were independent predictors of insulin therapy. Ab+ Cameroonian patients were older (p < 0.001), had higher BMI (p < 0.001) and lower Ab titers than Belgian Ab+ patients. In ketonuric patients, prevalence of autoantibodies was similar as in non-ketonuric patients.ConclusionsIn Cameroonian patients with diabetes aged under 40 years, antibody-positivity is not clearly related to disease phenotype, but may help predict the need for insulin treatment.