Islet cell autoantibodies: a case of a premature obituary.

The article focuses on the islet cell cytoplasmic autoantibody (ICA). ICA's have widely been accepted as the gold standard for confirming the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes since their initial description in the early 1970s. The identification of these autoantibodies in serum samples are made by indirect immunofluorescence testing using blood group O human pancreas as a substrate. Many research has been made utilizing biochemical autoantibodies, which indicates that the presence of biochemical autoantibodies, especially when multiple in number within an individual, confers increased risk for development of type 1 diabetes.