LATENT AUTOIMMUNE DIABETES-MELLITUS IN ADULT HUMANS WITH NON-INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES - IS PSAMMOMYS-OBESUS A SUITABLE ANIMAL-MODEL

Recent data suggest that in a proportion of NIDDM patients there is a slowly evolving insulitis which results in a latent autoimmune diabetes leading to full insulin-dependence. Many animal models exist of NIDDM but none have reported the spontaneous existence of a similar phenomenon. We have re-examined the histology of pancreata from a few Psammomys obesus who had become insulin-dependent in the late stages of NIDDM. We report here the unexpected finding of the presence of insulitis in these animals and suggest that they could be a model for the clinical observation of latent IDDM in NIDDM patients.