OBJECTIVE -To describe the clinical and immunologic characteristics of fulminant type 1 diabetes, a novel subtype of type 1 diabetes, we conducted a nationwide survey.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -History and laboratory data, including isletrelated autoantibodies, were examined in 222 patients with fulminant and nonfulminant type 1 diabetes in our hospitals in addition to another 118 patients with fulminant type 1 diabetes located outside our hospitals in Japan.RESULTS -In our hospitals, of the 222 patients studied, 43 (19.4%) were diagnosed with fulminant type 1 diabetes, 137 (61.7%) were classified as having autoimmune type 1 diabetes, and 42 were type 1 diabetic subjects who were not fulminant and did not have anti-islet antibodies. An additional 118 fulminant patients outside our hospitals were enrolled, making a total of 161 fulminant type 1 diabetic subjects (83 male and 78 female subjects; 14 children/ adolescents and 147 adults) identified from all over Japan. (In 2000, the average incidence was three cases per month.) Flu-like symptoms and pregnancy were more frequently observed in the fulminant than in the autoimmune group (P Ͻ 0.001). In the fulminant patients, 4.8% were positive for anti-GAD antibodies and none were positive for anti-islet antigen 2 antibodies.CONCLUSIONS -Fulminant type 1 diabetes is a distinct subtype and accounts for ϳ20% of the ketosis-onset type 1 diabetes cases in Japan. Flu-like symptoms are characteristic of disease onset. Metabolic derangement is more severe in this subtype than in autoimmune type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Care 26:2345-2352, 2003T ype 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes is characterized by insulin deficiency from the destruction of pancreatic ␤-cells. According to the recently proposed classification of diabetes by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), type 1 diabetes is divided into two subtypes: autoimmune type 1 (immune-mediated; type 1A) diabetes and idiopathic (type 1B) diabetes (1,2).Since 1974, when Bottazzo et al. (3) reported the presence of islet cell antibodies (ICAs) in the sera of type 1 diabetic patients, several autoantibodies to pancreatic islet cells have been recognized as a marker of type 1 diabetes. These isletrelated autoantibodies are anti-GAD antibodies (GADAb), insulin autoantibodies (IAA), and anti-islet antigen 2 (IA-2)/ IA-2␤ antibodies (4,5).However, type 1 diabetic patients are not always positive for these autoantibodies, even at the onset of overt diabetes (6,7). Patients with type 1 diabetes who do not have islet autoantibodies at the time of diagnosis are classified as having idiopathic or type 1B diabetes. In Japan, several cases have been reported in which islet-related autoantibodies were negative and the onset of diabetes was acute (8 -12). Imagawa and colleagues (13,14) have proposed that these cases are "nonautoimmune fulminant" type 1 diabetes. The clinical characteristics of this subtype of type 1 diabetes are 1) remarkably abrupt onset of disease; 2) very short (Ͻ1 week) duration of di...

Insulin resistance is a major cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Resistin, an adipocyte-secreted hormone, antagonizes insulin. Transgenic mice that overexpress the resistin gene (Retn) in adipose tissue are insulin-resistant, whereas Retn (-/-) mice show lower fasting blood glucose, suggesting that the altered Retn promoter function could cause diabetes. To determine the role of RETN in human T2DM, we analyzed polymorphisms in its 5' flanking region. We found that the -420G/G genotype was associated with T2DM (397 cases and 406 controls) (P=.008; adjusted odds ratio = 1.97 [by logistic regression analysis]) and could accelerate the onset of disease by 4.9 years (P=.006 [by multiple regression analysis]). Meta-analysis of 1,888 cases and 1,648 controls confirmed this association (P=.013). Linkage disequilibrium analysis revealed that the -420G/G genotype itself was a primary variant determining T2DM susceptibility. Functionally, Sp1 and Sp3 transcription factors bound specifically to the susceptible DNA element that included -420G. Overexpression of Sp1 or Sp3 enhanced RETN promoter activity with -420G in Drosophila Schneider line 2 cells that lacked endogenous Sp family members. Consistent with these findings, fasting serum resistin levels were higher in subjects with T2DM who carried the -420G/G genotype. Therefore, the specific recognition of -420G by Sp1/3 increases RETN promoter activity, leading to enhanced serum resistin levels, thereby inducing human T2DM.

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Insulin intervention to preserve beta-cell function is effective and safe for patients with SPIDDM or latent autoimmune diabetes in adults.

Aims/IntroductionSix kinds of oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs), including the new dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP‐4) inhibitors, are available. The present study aimed to define trends within the prescribing patterns of OADs, as well as changes in glycemic control in Japan over a 10‐year period from 2002 to 2011.Materials and MethodsWe carried out a cross‐sectional study using data of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients from 24 clinics for 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2011. OAD use was analyzed combined with clinical data.ResultsSulfonylureas (SUs) were the most commonly used OAD, but their use for monotherapy markedly decreased over the study period. Biguanides (BGs) were the second most commonly used OAD, and their prescribing rate increased both for mono‐ and combination therapy. DPP‐4 inhibitors (DPP‐4I), released in 2009, were the third most commonly prescribed OAD in 2011 both for mono‐ and combination therapy. Among combination therapies, two OADs were mostly prescribed, but the use of three OADs and four OADs in 2011 was two‐ and 14.8‐fold those in 2002. These trends were accompanied by an improvement in average glycated hemoglobin from 7.5 ± 1.2% in 2002 to 7.1 ± 0.9% in 2011.ConclusionsThe OAD prescribing trend has moved away from monotherapy with SUs and toward combination therapies to achieve better glycemic control. Increased use of BGs and DPP‐4I was predominant in 2011. These trends were accompanied by an improvement of the glycated hemoglobin level.

The clinical symptoms of PF patients were more severe than those of NPF patients, and the prognosis of their fetuses was extremely poor. The type 1 diabetes-susceptible HLA class II haplotype is distinct in PF and NPF patients, suggesting that different HLA haplotypes underlie the presentation of PF or NPF.

The insulin receptor has an intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity that is essential for signal transduction. A mutant insulin receptor gene lacking almost the entire kinase domain has been identified in an individual with type A insulin resistance and acanthosis nigricans. Insulin binding to the erythrocytes or cultured fibroblasts from this individual was normal. However receptor autophosphorylation and tyrosine kinase activity toward an exogenous substrate were reduced in partially purified insulin receptors from the proband's lymphocytes that had been transformed by Epstein-Barr virus. The insulin resistance associated with this mutated gene was inherited by the proband from her mother as an apparently autosomal dominant trait. Thus a deletion in one allele of the insulin receptor gene may be at least partly responsible for some instances of insulin-resistant diabetes.