Endocrine Abstracts

Background and aims: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) results from a severe autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells, which renders patients insulin-dependent for life. The triggering of autoimmunity against beta cells is caused by a complex interaction between environmental, genetic and epigenetic risk factors. Although significant progress has been made in elucidating the genetic factors associated with T1DM, the non-genetic components have remained poorly understood. ...