Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD), such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), frequently co-occur with autoimmune diabetes, including latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA). While guidelines recommend thyroid autoantibody screening in patients with autoimmune diabetes, the reverse approach-screening for diabetes-related autoantibodies in AITD patients-is not routinely practiced. Given the substantial link between glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GADA) and both thyroid and β-cell autoimmunity, we recommend frequent GADA testing in AITD patients, especially those with HT. This screening technique may discover LADA early, leading to timely glycaemic monitoring and treatment measures to protect β-cell function and reduce diabetes complications.
Anna et al. (Fri,) studied this question.