ABSTRACT
The autoimmune process underlying type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) has been hypothesized to be chronic and progressive (1). In this model, people born with a genetic risk for diabetes experience an as yet undefined insult, initiating a cascade of events leading to the activation of autoreactive T cells, their migration to the pancreatic islet, and eventual destruction of b cells. This process is marked by the production of islet autoantibodies, which can be detected in the serum prior to the development of clinically significant hyperglycemia (2).
