الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract T ype 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease and results from T cell-mediated destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. Patients at onset of type 1 diabetes usually have limited beta cell mass and depend on exogenous insulin treatment. The development of new therapies to control T cell autoimmunity and to preserve the remaining beta cell function will be of great significance in managing patients with type 1 diabetes. Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) has been tested for the treatment of patients with new onset of type 1 diabetes. This therapeutic strategy can result in exogenous insulin independence by destroying pathogenic memory T cells and preserving the remaining beta cell function. Type I autoimmune diabetes develops when one or another immunoregulatory mechanism fails, allowing autoreactive T-cells directed against beta cells to become activated and to expand clonally, starting a cascade of immune/inflammatory processes in the islets (insulitis), causing beta cell destruction. |