ABSTRACT
Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus [IDDM] is an autoimmune disease, the factors that induce the selective destruction of the insulin producing islet cells of the pancreas are unknown. Although autoreactive T-cells rather than autoantibodies are responsible for the destruction of beta-cells, the identification and chararcterization of the autoantibody-autoantigen system in IDOM are of crucial and fundamental importance in prediction and potential immunotherapy of the disease. Currently, Cytoplasmic Islets Cell Antibodies [ICAs Insulin Autoantibodies [IAA], Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase Antibodies [Anti-GADs] and 37-k antigen antibodies are potentially useful hurnoral markers for such prediction. The attempt to identify the earliest events in the autoimmune process suggest that Anti-GAD could be the first and most important autoantigen