AUTOIMMUNE MECHANISMS IN DIABETIC NEUROPATHY

该子项目是利用NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为中心，不一定是研究者所在机构。糖尿病是一种非常常见的疾病，由于缺乏激素胰岛素（调节糖）或组织无法使用胰岛素而引起。在被诊断患有糖尿病后5至15年，大多数患者会出现涉及眼睛、肾脏、神经系统和/或皮肤的某种类型的并发症。这些并发症可能会使人虚弱和昂贵。神经损伤是糖尿病最常见的并发症之一，可以影响手和脚的神经，以及调节内脏器官和重要身体功能的神经。在我们的实验室，最近的研究表明，在糖尿病患者中，神经细胞（神经元）内的钙增加，神经细胞死亡增加。我们有理由相信，人体自身的免疫系统可能会导致这些问题。因此，我们希望分析来自具有和不具有神经损伤的胰岛素依赖型和非胰岛素依赖型糖尿病患者的血液，并将其与来自正常健康献血者的血液进行比较。我们将寻找在血液中发现的由免疫系统产生的蛋白质（抗体）。通过这项研究，我们希望能够更好地了解血液中可能导致糖尿病神经损伤的因素，并最终有助于新的治疗方法。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Diabetes mellitus is a very common disease caused by a lack of the hormone insulin (which regulates sugar) or an inability of tissues to use insulin. Five to 15 years after being diagnosed with diabetes most patients develop some type of complications involving the eyes, kidneys, nervous system and/or skin. These complications can be debilitating and costly. Nerve damage is one of the most common complications of diabetes and can affect the nerves of the hands and feet, as well as the nerves that regulate internal organs and vital body functions. In our laboratory, recent studies indicate that, in diabetics, there is increased calcium inside nerve cells (neurons) and increased nerve cell death. We have reason to believe that the body's own immune system may contribute to these problems. Therefore we wish to analyze the blood from insulin dependent and non-insulin dependent diabetic patients with and without nerve damage and compare it to the blood from normal healthy blood donors. We will be looking for proteins (antibodies) found in the blood, produced by the immune system. Through this study we hope to gain a better understanding of factors in the blood that may lead to nerve damage in diabetes mellitus and that may eventually aid in new treatments.