Recherche immunitaire
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Insulitis and Diabetes: A Perspective on Islet Inflammation

Susan J Burke and J Jason Collier

Immune cell infiltration into pancreatic islets (termed insulitis) has been linked with destruction of pancreatic β-cells and thus with onset of diabetes mellitus. Recently published guidelines for reporting insulitis may generate some deliberation on pancreatic islet inflammation and a re-examination of the role that immune cells play in the process of β-cell death and dysfunction. Herein, we offer the viewpoint that a mild insulitis (e.g., 2-fold increase in leukocytic infiltration) would be sufficient to produce an adequate supply of inflammatory molecules capable of initiating and maintaining an inflammatory state within the pancreatic islets.