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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Accelerated Type 1 Diabetes Induction in Mice by Adoptive Transfer of Diabetogenic CD4+ T Cells
Published on: May 6, 2013
An immune origin of type 2 diabetes?
1German Diabetes Center, Leibniz-Institute at the University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. hkolb@uni-duesseldorf.de
Abstract:
Subclinical, low-grade systemic inflammation has been observed in patients with type 2 diabetes and in those at increased risk of the disease. This may be more than an epiphenomenon. Alleles of genes encoding immune/inflammatory mediators are associated with the disease, and the two major environmental factors the contribute to the risk of type 2 diabetes-diet and physical activity-have a direct impact on levels of systemic immune mediators. In animal models, targeting of immune genes enhanced or suppressed the development of obesity or diabetes. Obesity is associated with the infiltration and proinflammatory activity of macrophages in adipose tissue, and immune mediators may be important regulators of insulin resistance, mitochondrial function, ectopic lipid storage and beta cell dysfunction or death. Intervention studies targeting these pathways would help to determine the contribution of an activated innate immune system to the development of type 2 diabetes.
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