Islet autoantibodies and type 1 diabetes: does the evidence support screening?

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic progressive autoimmune disorder with complex, polygenic susceptibility. Environmental factors which are poorly defined also contribute to the pathogenesis. This disease is characterized by lymphocyte infiltration into the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, leading to inflammation and selective destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells resulting in hyperglycemia.