Multiple sclerosis, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: a common mechanism of irregular immune regulation.

BACKGROUND

Multiple sclerosis (MS), idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and diabetes mellitus-1 (DM-1) are polygenic autoimmune diseases with a pivotal autoimmune component affecting young adults. They share a number of characteristics, thereby suggesting common underlying pathways or mechanisms. Typically, the aforementioned diseases are organ-specific autoimmune disorders of unknown etiology, but with strong evidence of tissue-destructive activity of the humoral and/or cellular immune system in the end-organ tissues affected (ie, the myelin components in MS, the myocytes of myocardium in DCM, and the insulin-secreting β islets in DM-1).

CASE REPORT

We herein describe a 35-year-old white Greek man who presented with coexisting MS, DCM, and DM-1 diagnosed over a period of 7 years. The patient was successfully treated and is asymptomatic until present time.

CONCLUSION

The clustering of these 3 autoimmune diseases in our patient supports the concept of an immune-mediated damage in these diseases, an important aspect for an effective therapeutic choice by neurologists. However, the immunopathogenetic association between MS and other autoimmune remains speculative, thereby warranting further clarification.