ABSTRACT
Type I diabetes is caused by an autoimmune attack, apparently by the combined forces of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, directed to the insulinproducing β cells of the pancreatic islets [1]. Destruction of the β cells can proceed very quickly (within weeks to months) in some patients (mostly children) or very slowly (over years) in others (mostly adults); the reasons for this variable rate of progression are not really known, but variable degrees of autoimmune regulation probably affect the rate of destruction. Type I diabetes was once called “juvenile” diabetes because most cases occurred in young people; but now the incidence is rising and the disease is seen to develop in older persons. Indeed, about 10-15% of persons originally diagnosed as suffering from type II diabetes may actually be undergoing a slowly progressive autoimmune process called latent autoimmune diabetes of the adult (LADA) [2]. Type I diabetes is thus among the most prevalent of autoimmune diseases; a specific therapy would help many people.
