London, Nov 22 (ANI): Researchers at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, UK, have identified faulty versions of two genes that may be responsible for type 1 diabetes.

The genes HLA-A and HLA-B usually help the body to fight infection but
Joanna Howson and colleagues believe that faulty variants of them lead the immune system to destroy insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas, reports New Scientist.

Usually, the two genes make components of MHC1 - a protein on the surface of immune cells that helps them tell friend from foe.

Researchers identified that the class of immune cells known to attack islet cells were those activated by MHC1. Having both variants may raise someone’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes by 50 per cent.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that results in the permanent destruction of insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas. (ANI)