Humoral immunodeficiency to bacterial antigens in patients with juvenile onset diabetes mellitus

Humoral immunity to bacterial antigens was tested in 49 tissue typed patients with juvenile onset diabetes mellitus (JOD) and in 50 healthy controls. The number of patients with agglutinins to E. coli and staphyloccoci was significantly lower compared to controls (p<0.001, p<0.01 respectively). Missing antibody formation to pertussis and diphtheria toxoid could also be detected in a higher percentage of JOD patients than of controls (p < 0.05; p ≃ 0.05, respectively). By contrast heteroagglutinins to sheep and rabbit erythrocytes were found in similiar proportion in both groups and the values of immunoglobulin serum concentrations showed no difference between patients and controls. In addition no correlation between antibody formation and genes of the HLA complex was found. It is suggested that the severely reduced agglutinin formation to bacterial antigens might be partly responsible for susceptibility to bacterial infections in juvenile diabetics.