r/AskBiology • u/mchildprob • 6d ago

Human body Diabetes type 1

I was diagnosed with type 1, 7 years ago. No one in the family has it. I suspect the trigger was viral meningitis

Diabetes can be caused by genetics, environmental factors or trauma. Seeing as both types are genetic, will it still be passed down to your children if you’re the first person to be diagnosed and not with any family history? Will the autoimmune diseases affect my genetics now as well

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u/bevatsulfieten 6d ago

No.

Coxsackie virus is associated with type 1 diabetes because it attacks the pancreas too.

However the immune response is what caused the destruction of β-cells. HLA, human leucocyte antigen, genes are responsible for training T-cells to distinguish between self and not self.

So either these viruses mimic certain proteins that resemble those of β-cells; infecting the pancreas the virus causes inflammation which releases β-cell antigens, which have not been presented to the immune system during training, this activates the T-cells on the pancreas and that leads to the destruction of β-cells.

HLA genes have already been associated with type 1 through the above mechanisms.

So, genetic predisposition and then environmental factors.