Abstract:

ＯｂｊｅｃｔｉｖｅTo estimate the value of immunoblotting test in detecting islet autoantibodies (IAA) of elderly diabetic patients.ＭｅｔｈｏｄｓThree hundred and fifty elderly diabetic patients and one hundred and twenty healthy people were measured for autoantibodies：glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody(GADA)，islet cell antibody (ICA)and IAA with immunoblotting test and ELISA respectively.ＲｅｓｕｌｔｓThe positive rate of GADA with immunoblotting test was higher than that with ELISA in elderly diabetic patients whereas there were no significant differences in the positive rates of ICA and IAA between two methods. The positive rates of GADA and ICA in patients with a course more than five years were lower than patients with a course less than five years with two methods. The positive rate of GADA with immunoblotting test was higher than that with ELISA in patients with a course more than five years.ＣｏｎｃｌｕｓｉｏｎｓThe sensibility of immunoblotting test was better than ELISA in detecting IAA in elderly diabetic patients, especially for GADA.

Key words: immunoblotting test, type 2 diabetes mellitus, islet autoantibodies