ESPE Abstracts

Background and Purpose: Previous studies have shown that autoimmunity in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) begins long before the onset of clinical manifestations. Viruses, such as Coxsackie virus, play an important role in the complex and multifactorial etiology of T1DM. Human hair grows by 1 cm per month. A variety of endogenous molecules such as proteins, metabolites and hormones are incorporated during hair growth, so that a hair sample can provide a protein profile that reflects its exposure over the previous months. The purpose of the present study is to identify the proteomics profile in 1 cm long hair samples in girls with newly-diagnosed T1DM who are followed at the Diabetes Center of the First Department of Pediatrics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, at “Aghia Sophia” Children’s Hospital.

Materials and Methods: Thirty-two girls with newly-diagnosed T1DM and thirty healthy girls were included in the study. Hair samples were collected from the back of the scalp using scissors as close to the hair root as possible and the first 6 cm were cut in segments of 1 cm from each participant. Sample preparation was performed using the protocol Sp3 and then peptides were separated by high performance liquid chromatography. Q Exactive HF-X mass spectrometer was used for identification and quantification of the peptides, while Perseus and Metascape software programs were used for statistic and bioinformatics analysis.

Results: 1870 proteins were identified from the 36 samples (3 girls with T1DM and 3 healthy girls) of which 343 proteins were statistically significant. In all 1 cm hair samples, girls with T1DM had higher concentrations of immunoglobulins (IGKC, IGHA1, IGHG1-3), proteins of the complement system, and proteins participating in the immune response against viruses. Importantly, the expression of coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CXADR) was statistically increased in all hair samples of girls with T1DM.

Conclusion: Our preliminary results revealed differences in the hair proteomics profile of girls with T1DM, compared to healthy girls. This study confirms that autoimmunity begins at least 6 months before the onset of diabetes-associated clinical manifestations.