Autoimmune diabetes: The role of the islets of Langerhans

Whether autoimmunity results primarily from a defect of the immune system, target organ dysfunction or involves both, is unresolved in most autoimmune diseases. Here, Francoise Homo-Delarche and Christian Boitard argue that the activation of islet-specific lymphocytes, which leads to the development of autoimmune diabetes, does not occur in the absence of pancreatic beta cells and that islet dysfunction detected early in the diabetes process might also contribute to autoimmune activation.