[Diabetes mellitus and immunology--a manifold interrelation].

The purpose of this article is to describe the manifold interrelations between diabetes mellitus and immunology. The survey starts with immune defects caused by insulin deficiency and expressed by reduced phagocytic functions of macrophages and decreased responsiveness of lymphocytes to mitogens. The following topic deals with immunologic side effects of insulin therapy due to species differences and impurities in former insulin preparations. Also in human insulin therapy small amounts of IgE and IgG antibodies are observed, although clinically insulin immunology in the future will be of minor importance for diabetic patients. Autoimmunity to islet antigens plays a major role in diabetes research. Some characteristics of islet cell antibodies are described and their impact on the pathogenesis of type I diabetes is discussed. Finally experimental islet transplantation and the attempts of immunoalteration of allogeneic islets are mentioned.