Zinc transporter 8 autoantibody testing requires age-related cut-offs

INTRODUCTION: Zinc transporter 8 autoantibodies (ZnT8A) are biomarkers of beta cell autoimmunity in type 1 diabetes that have become more widely available to clinicians in recent years. Robust control population-defined thresholds are essential to ensure high clinical specificity in islet autoantibody testing. We aimed to determine the optimal cut-offs for ZnT8A testing. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: 97.5th and 99th centile cut-offs were determined using residual clinical sera from 1559 controls aged between 0 and 83 years with no history of diabetes and a hemoglobin A1c level of less than 6.0% (<42 mmol/mol). ZnT8A were measured by ELISA (RSR, Cardiff, UK) on a Dynex DS2 ELISA robot (Dynex, Preston, UK). We assessed the impact of age-related cut-offs in comparison with the manufacturer’s recommended threshold in a mixed cohort of young-onset (<age 30) diabetes (UNITED study (Using pharmacogeNetics to Improve Treatment in Early-onset Diabetes), n=145). RESULTS: Using the manufacturer’s limit of detection, 6 WHO U/mL, 16.2% of people in the control cohort had detectable levels of ZnT8A and those who had detectable ZnT8A were much more likely to be younger (p<0.0001). The 97.5th and 99th centile thresholds were substantially higher in younger participants: 18 and 127 WHO U/mL (tested under 30 years) in comparison with 9 and 21 WHO U/mL (tested 30 years and over). In the UNITED cohort some of those found to be ZnT8A-positive by the manufacturer’s threshold but negative using the appropriate 99% centile cut-off (127 WHO U/mL) displayed characteristics suggestive of type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Age-related thresholds are needed for ZnT8A testing. In those aged <30 years, use of manufacturers’ recommended cut-offs may result in low test specificity and potentially high rates of false positive test results in patients who do not have autoimmune diabetes.