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Immunology

Insulin trigger for diabetes

Nature volume 435, pages 151–152 (2005)Cite this article

Type I diabetes occurs when the immune system destroys crucial cells in the pancreas. But what prompts the body to turn against itself so disastrously? It seems that insulin is the key.

Although many autoantigens are thought to be involved in type I diabetes, conclusive evidence that any of these instigate or propagate autoimmune responses has remained elusive. Historically, however, insulin has been a good candidate. For example, lymphocytes isolated from ‘non-obese diabetic’ (NOD) mice — an animal model of type I diabetes — can recognize segments of the insulin molecule3,4. In addition, autoantibodies against insulin are found in the blood of NOD mice and human diabetic patients, well before the clinical symptoms of the disease appear. The onset of clinical diabetes occurs after more than 90% of β-cells have been destroyed, but the insulin antibodies arise after only a small fraction of β-cells have been attacked, providing a useful early marker for the occurrence of autoimmunity.

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Figure 1: Development of type I diabetes.

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  1. the Immune Regulation Laboratory, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, San Diego, 92121, California, USA

    Matthias von Herrath

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  1. Matthias von Herrath
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von Herrath, M. Insulin trigger for diabetes. Nature 435, 151–152 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/435151a

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