Genetic risk factors for type 1 diabetes

Flemming Pociot, Åke Lernmark

202 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed at the end of a prodrome of β-cell autoimmunity. The disease is most likely triggered at an early age by autoantibodies primarily directed against insulin or glutamic acid decarboxylase, or both, but rarely against islet antigen-2. After the initial appearance of one of these autoantibody biomarkers, a second, third, or fourth autoantibody against either islet antigen-2 or the ZnT8 transporter might also appear. The larger the number of β-cell autoantibody types, the greater the risk of rapid progression to clinical onset of diabetes. This association does not necessarily mean that the β-cell autoantibodies are pathogenic, but rather that they represent reproducible biomarkers of the pathogenesis. The primary risk factor for β-cell autoimmunity is genetic, mainly occurring in individuals with either HLA-DR3-DQ2 or HLA-DR4-DQ8 haplotypes, or both, but a trigger from the environment is generally needed. The pathogenesis can be divided into three stages: 1, appearance of β-cell autoimmunity, normoglycaemia, and no symptoms; 2, β-cell autoimmunity, dysglycaemia, and no symptoms; and 3, β-cell autoimmunity, dysglycaemia, and symptoms of diabetes. The genetic association with each one of the three stages can differ. Type 1 diabetes could serve as a disease model for organ-specific autoimmune disorders such as coeliac disease, thyroiditis, and Addison's disease, which show similar early markers of a prolonged disease process before clinical diagnosis.

Original languageEnglish
JournalThe Lancet
Volume387
Issue number10035
Pages (from-to)2331-9
Number of pages9
ISSN0140-6736
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jun 2016

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Autoantibodies
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Diabetes Complications
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1
  • Gene-Environment Interaction
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Genome, Human
  • HLA Antigens
  • Haplotypes
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Insulin-Secreting Cells
  • Middle Aged
  • RNA
  • Risk Factors
  • Young Adult
  • Journal Article
  • Review

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