Using an animal model of type 1 diabetes to identify biomarkers of pre-symptomatic disease and treatment efficacy

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In type 1 diabetes the immune system of an individual selectively destroys the cells in the body that secrete insulin, a hormone which is essential for maintaining glucose levels in the body. This autoimmune process can be going on for several years before sufficient insulin producing cells have been killed to make the person clinically ill. If you could detect those people who were suffering from such an autoimmune condition before they became clinically ill it would be possible to intervene therapeutically to prevent further loss of these very important cells. Such an early intervention would mean that there would be no need to have daily insulin injections and would prevent the development of diabetic complications. Therefore if biomarkers could be detected in blood samples this would represent a significant advance towards a better treatment for type 1 diabetes.