Islet cell autoimmunity is genetically determined

In 1997 a study in Denmark found that non-diabetic dizygotic and monozygotic twin siblings of patients with type 1 diabetes had a similar high prevalence of islet cell autoantibody expression, suggesting that islet cell autoimmunity is mainly environmentally determined. This week, however, a study by Redondo et al (p 698) found that monozygotic twin siblings of patients with diabetes developed diabetes and expressed autoantibodies more often than dizygotic twin and non-twin siblings and controls. Survival analysis showed that monozygotic twins with HLA DQ8/DQ2 were more likely to develop positive autoantibodies than monozygotic twins without this genotype. The authors claim that these findings cannot support a predominantly environmental role in the aetiology of islet cell autoimmunity.


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Relevant Article

Genetic determination of islet cell autoimmunity in monozygotic twin, dizygotic twin, and non-twin siblings of patients with type 1 diabetes: prospective twin study

Maria J Redondo, Marian Rewers, Liping Yu, Satish Garg, Colleen C Pilcher, Robert B Elliott, and George S Eisenbarth
BMJ 1999 318: 698-702. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]