Diabetes Antibody Standardization Program: evaluation of assays for autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase and islet antigen-2

Aims/hypothesis Islet autoantibodies are important in diabetes classification and risk assessment, and as endpoints in observational studies. The Diabetes Autoantibody Standardization Program (DASP) aims to improve and standardise measurement of autoantibodies associated with type 1 diabetes. We report results for glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GADA) and islet antigen-2 autoantibodies (IA-2A) from three DASP workshops (2002–2005). Methods Up to 60 laboratories in 18 countries participated in each workshop. Participants received coded serum aliquots from 50 patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes (median age 18 years, range 9–35 years) and 100 blood donor controls. Results…