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Researchers identify genes that may be responsible for type 1 diabetes
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ANI India on 22 November, 2007 08:04:00
 
Researchers at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, UK, have identified
faulty versions of two genes that may be responsible for type 1 diabetes.
The genes HLA-A and HLA-B usually help the body to fight infection but
Joanna Howson and colleagues believe that faulty variants of them lead the
immune system to destroy insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas, reports
New Scientist.
Usually, the two genes make components of MHC1 - a protein on the surface of
immune cells that helps them tell friend from foe.
Researchers identified that the class of immune cells known to attack islet
cells were those activated by MHC1. Having both variants may raise someone's
risk of developing type 1 diabetes by 50 per cent.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that results in the permanent
destruction of insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas. (ANI)