Commentary 10.1172/JCI130310
1Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
2Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Address correspondence to: Simeon I. Taylor, University of Maryland School of Medicine, HSF-III, Room 4182, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. Email: staylor2@som.umaryland.edu.
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1Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
2Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Address correspondence to: Simeon I. Taylor, University of Maryland School of Medicine, HSF-III, Room 4182, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. Email: staylor2@som.umaryland.edu.
Find articles by Taylor, S. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
First published July 2, 2019 - More info
The discovery of insulin almost 100 years ago has resulted in a remarkable increase in lifespan and quality of life for patients with type 1 diabetes. The Joslin Medalist Study has allowed researchers to access and study patients (Medalists) with type 1 diabetes who have been insulin dependent for 50 years or more. In this issue of the JCI, Yu et al. evaluated HLA variants, autoantibody status, β cell function, C-peptide release, and monogenetic diabetes genes in a cohort of Medalists. Postmortem analysis of pancreata from Medalists revealed the presence of insulin-positive β cells in these patients. Moreover, some patients were still able to respond to metabolic stimuli despite long-term insulin dependence. Overall, the Medalist cohort was highly heterogenous, and genetic testing suggested that several patients would fall into categories other than type 1 diabetes on the basis of REVEL (rare exome variant ensemble learner) classification and may be able to transfer to other therapy options.
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