Genetics of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

IDDM is caused by autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas in genetically susceptible individuals. Although the incidence and prevalence if IDDM in Japan are much lower than those in Caucasian countries, the recurrence risk in siblings of IDDM probands is much higher than the population prevalence, indicating that IDDM is clustered in families even in Japan, where the incidence of the disease is the lowest in the world. The higher concordance rate in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins indicates that genetic factors contribute to the familial clustering of IDDM in Japan. Analysis of the HLA region revealed that susceptibility genes (IDDM1) consist of multiple components, those in class II DR and DQ regions and another in the class I region. Analysis in NOD mice, an animal model of IDDM, supports this observation: susceptibility genes (Idd1) are mapped to class II A and E regions, but the incidence of the disease is strongly affected by a gene or genes outside of this segment (Idd16). Studies in both humans and an animal model will clarify the genetic components of IDDM, facilitating prediction of the disease and the development of effective strategies for its prevention.