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Review
. 2022 Aug 25:13:876470.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.876470. eCollection 2022.

The etiology and pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes - A personal, non-systematic review of possible causes, and interventions

Karsten Buschard  1
Affiliations
Review

The etiology and pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes - A personal, non-systematic review of possible causes, and interventions

Karsten Buschard. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

In this review after a lifelong research career, my personal opinion on the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D) from its very start to clinical manifestation will be described. T1D is a disease of an increased intestinal permeability and a reduced pancreas volume. I am convinced that virus might be the initiator and that this virus could persist on strategically significant locations. Furthermore, intake of gluten is important both in foetal life and at later ages. Disturbances in sphingolipid metabolism may also be of crucial importance. During certain stages of T1D, T cells take over resulting in the ultimate destruction of beta cells, which manifests T1D as an autoimmune disease. Several preventive and early treatment strategies are mentioned. All together this review has more new theories than usually, and it might also be more speculative than ordinarily. But without new ideas and theories advancement is difficult, even though everything might not hold true during the continuous discovery of the etiology and pathogenesis of T1D.

Keywords: beta-cell activity; etiology; gluten; pathogenesis; sphingolipids; sulfatide; type 1 diabetes; virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic drawing of various factors involved in development of Type 1 Diabetes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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