Genetic factors accounting for different type 1 diabetes morbidity levels in Europe and Russian Federation

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) is characterized by varying levels of morbidity in different populations and its overall increase in the majority of developed countries during the last 30 years. According to IDF, as many as 218,000 new cases of DM1 are registered annually all over the world of whom 75,800 (49%) are children at the age from 0 through 14 years. The yearly incremental increase of DM1 morbidity in this group is estimated at 3%. The marked ethnic variability of DM1 morbidity may be attributed to the different living conditions (environmental factors), population-related differences in the frequency of diabetes-predisposing and protective genetic markers, and the presence of specific markers in different populations. The population-based studies on the occurrence of molecular-genetic markers of DM1 in different ethnic groups confirmed the important role of genetic factors as predictors of diabetes and promoted the understanding of their contribution to the development of the disease in different ethnoses. The results of relevant original and published investigations are discussed.