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Abnormalities of the Exocrine Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes

  • Pathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes (A Pugliese, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is considered a pancreatic beta cell-specific disease that results in absolute insulin deficiency. Nevertheless, clinical studies from 1940 onwards showed that patients with T1D had an abnormal exocrine pancreas due to the presence of subclinical exocrine insufficiency and acinar atrophy. Exocrine abnormalities are an important, and mostly neglected, characteristic associated with T1D. It is however still unclear whether the exocrine dysfunction in T1D is a primary damage caused by the same pathogenic event that led to beta cell destruction or secondary to beta cell loss. In this review, we collect evidence supporting the hypothesis that T1D is a combined endocrine-exocrine disease in which the loss of functional beta cell mass is most clinically apparent.

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Conflict of Interest

Martha Campbell-Thompson, Teresa Rodriguez-Calvo, and Manuela Battaglia declare they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine, 1395 Center Drive, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA

    Martha Campbell-Thompson

  2. Type 1 Diabetes Center, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, 92037, CA, USA

    Teresa Rodriguez-Calvo

  3. Diabetes Research Institute, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy

    Manuela Battaglia

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  1. Martha Campbell-Thompson
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  2. Teresa Rodriguez-Calvo
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  3. Manuela Battaglia
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Correspondence to Martha Campbell-Thompson.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Pathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes

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Campbell-Thompson, M., Rodriguez-Calvo, T. & Battaglia, M. Abnormalities of the Exocrine Pancreas in Type 1 Diabetes. Curr Diab Rep 15, 79 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-015-0653-y

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