Pancreatic pathology in type 1 diabetes in human

In type 1 autoimmune diabetes there is a selective destruction of insulin-secreting beta cells. Around the time of clinical presentation, insulitis, a chronic inflammatory infiltrate of the islets affecting primarily insulin containing islets, is present in the majority of cases. The inflammatory infiltrate consists primarily of T lymphocytes; CD8 cells outnumber CD4 cells, there are fewer B lymphocytes and macrophages are relatively scarce. beta cell death may involve the Fas apoptotic pathway since they have been shown to express Fas, infiltrating T lymphocytes express Fas-L and apoptotic beta cells have been described. Hyperexpression of class I MHC by all the endocrine cells in many insulin-containing islets is a well recognized phenomenon, characteristic of the disease. It has been argued that this is an earlier event than insulitis within a given islet and appears to be due to secretion of interferon alpha by beta cells within that islet. A recent study has found evidence of Coxsackie virus infection in beta cells in three out of six pancreases of patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Coxsackie viruses are known to induce interferon alpha secretion by beta cells and this could initiate the sequence of events that culminates in their autoimmune destruction.