The Comparison of Alpha 1- Antitrypsin Protein Activity in Type 1 Diabetic Patients Referred to the Rafsanjan Diabetes Center to Healthy Individuals in 2016

Type 1 diabetes (diabetes mellitus) is a disease associated with metabolism. The most common form of type 1 diabetes is its autoimmune type. Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) is a member of the serine protease inhibitors family and its role is to protect tissue degradation by protease. Hence, its defect or deficiency significantly increases the risk of various diseases. This study aimed to compare the activity of alpha-1 antitrypsin protein in patients with type 1 diabetes with healthy individuals.

This descriptive study carried out on 42 patients with type 1 diabetes between the ages of 18-28 years old who referred to the Diabetes Clinic in the city of Rafsanjan in 2015. Healthy people were chosen among native male and female students aged from 18 to 28 years of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences who were matched for age and sex with the patients. AAT activity by trypsin inhibitory capacity (TIC) was studied. For statistical analysis the chi-square test, t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used.

The amount of TIC in the patients with type 1 diabetes was 2.35 ±0.40 (μmol/min/ml) which was significantly lower than the amount in the healthy individuals that was 3.36 ±0.36 (μmol/min/ml) (P-value

The results of this study revealed that AAT activity in the patients with type 1 diabetes was lower than the healthy individuals. Therefore, it can be stated that AAT can be introduced as a potential target for treatment of type 1 diabetes.