Is Type 1 Diabetes in the Japanese Population the Same as among Caucasians?

A bstract : In the Japanese population, the incidence of type 1 diabetes is as low as ∼2 cases/year/100,000 children, which is much lower compared to that in countries with populations predominantly of Caucasian origin. However, the prevalences of anti‐islet autoantibodies in patients with Japanese type 1 diabetes are 60‐70% for GAD autoantibodies, 45‐50% for insulin autoantibodies (IAA), and 60‐65% for IA‐2 autoantibodies at disease onset, which are similar to those reported in Caucasian patients. With combinatorial analysis of these autoantibodies, 90% of patients express at least one of these autoantibodies and are classified as type 1A diabetics. There is a significant number of patients with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) in Japan, and a high level of GAD autoantibodies has a high predictive value for future insulin deficiency in such patients. Recently, it has been reported that a group of extremely rapid‐onset patients presented with diabetic ketoacidosis and a low HbA1c level, called fulminant diabetes mellitus . Although they had severe hyperglycemia, these individuals lacked the expression of anti‐islet autoantibodies. With a nationwide survey, it was documented that fulminant type 1 diabetes accounts for ∼20% of the ketosis‐onset patients with type 1 diabetes in Japan. It is currently unknown whether the pathogenesis of fulminant type 1 diabetes is associated with autoimmune response to pancreatic islet β cells. Japanese patients with type 1 diabetes are clinically heterogeneous, and further investigations are required to clarify the underlying pathogenesis for each subgroup of type 1 diabetes.