BACKGROUND Autoantibodies to GAD65 (anti-GAD65) are present in the sera of 70-80% of patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), but antibodies to the structurally similar 67 kDa isoform GAD67 are rare. Antibodies to GAD67 may represent a cross-reactive population of anti-GAD65, but this has not been formally tested. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In this study we examined the frequency, levels and ...

The etiology of psychotic disorders is still unknown, but in a subgroup patients symptoms might be caused by an autoimmune reaction. In this study, we tested patterns reactivity against potentially novel hippocampal antigens. Serum cohort 621 individuals with and 257 controls were first for on neuropil rat brain sections. Brain reactive sera (67 diseased, 27 healthy) further antibody binding to...

Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is an autoimmune neurological disorder characterized by autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. To search for biomarkers that distinguish SPS from other neurological disorders (OND), we used surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectromet...

At onset of type 1 diabetes, the islet autoantibody status of patients has been reported to predict progression of the disease. We therefore tested the hypothesis that the systemic immunoregulatory balance, as defined by levels of circulating cytokines and chemokines, is associated with islet autoantibody status. In 50 patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes, antibodies to GAD and insulinoma...

BACKGROUND Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most frequent anxiety disorder in primary care patients. It is known that painful physical symptoms (PPS) are associated with GAD, regardless the presence of comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD). However the specific role of such symptoms in patients' functional impairment is not well understood. The objective of the present study is to a...

A phase II clinical trial with glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) 65 formulated with aluminium hydroxide (GAD-alum) has shown efficacy in preserving residual insulin secretion in children and adolescents with recent-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D). We have performed a 4-year follow-up study of 59 of the original 70 patients to investigate long-term cellular and humoral immune responses after GAD-alu...

Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in humans is linked with specific HLA class II genes, e.g., HLA-DQA1*0301/ DQB1*0302 (DQ8). To investigate the roles of HLA-DQ8 molecules and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) in disease development, we generated DQ8(+)/I-Abo transgenic mice expressing functional HLA-DQ8 molecules and devoid of endogenous mouse class II. DQ8(+)/I-Abo mice produced antigen-spe...

Islet cell antibodies (ICA), the classical autoimmunity marker for insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), are detected in approximately 85% of children with recently diagnosed diabetes. Because the ICA assay is semiquantitative and difficult to standardize, alternative assays are needed. When glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD 65) was discovered as a major islet antigen, the measurement o...

OBJECTIVE Due to a background of high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and the increasing rate of obesity occurring in relatively young urban children, we felt the need to look for type 2 diabetes in children. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A study of cases of type 2 diabetes with age at diagnosis of </=15 years seen at a diabetes speciality center in Chennai, India, is reported. A total of 18 chil...

Geckos use vocalizations for intraspecific communication, but little is known about the organization of their central auditory system. We therefore used antibodies against the calcium-binding proteins calretinin (CR), parvalbumin (PV), and calbindin-D28k (CB) to characterize the gecko auditory system. We also examined expression of both glutamic acid decarboxlase (GAD) and synaptic vesicle prot...