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Type 1 diabetes: the facts fit a deficient inhibitory signal given by MHC Class II
Author(s) -
Gray D.W.R.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
diabetes/metabolism research and reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.307
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1520-7560
pISSN - 1520-7552
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-7560(199901/02)15:1<29::aid-dmrr5>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - autoimmunity , diabetes mellitus , etiology , type 1 diabetes , major histocompatibility complex , type 2 diabetes , pathological , immunology , medicine , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , neuroscience , bioinformatics , biology , endocrinology , immune system
This paper presents a hypothesis regarding the aetiology of Type 1 (autoimmune) diabetes, which suggests that autoimmunity is normally prevented by an inhibitory or negative signal delivered by MHC molecules, and that in Type 1 diabetes it is the inability of beta cells to deliver sufficient negative signal from MHC Class II that drives the underlying autoimmune process. Based on a broad survey of the diabetes literature, a list of clinical, pathological, experimental and epidemiological ‘facts’ about Type 1 diabetes is presented which are considered to be widely accepted as proven. The new theory is then compared to other recent theories on the aetiology of diabetes with regard to its ability to explain these accepted ‘facts’. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.