[Role of hereditary factors in the formation of secondary insulin dependence in patients with type II diabetes mellitus].

A total of 389 patients with diabetes mellitus were examined. A genetic analysis has shown a most high possibility of diabetes in the sibs of patients with type II diabetes and secondary insulin dependence. The authors put forward a hypothesis that secondary insulin dependence formation in diabetics with type II condition results from interactions of two gene complexes with a recessive effect, responsible for types I and II diabetes mellitus development. They suggest a model of age-dependent epistasis with an 'insulin-dependence' gene quantitative effect.