A case for immune response genes?

Diabetes is not a single disease. Some patients develop insulin deficiency fairly rapidly and these are usually young, have lymphocytic infiltration of their pancreatic islets, possess circulating islet-cell antibody, and show a strong association with certain HLA phenotypes. This form of the disease is designated type I (juvenile onset or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM). The key factors involved in its pathogenesis were recently reviewed at the fourth of a series of international meetings on the immunology of diabetes'. This meeting was held in memory of Andrew Cudworth whose standing was pre-eminent in the immunogenetics of diabetes and whose untimely death is keenly felt.