ATP-Sensitive Potassium Channels — Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus and Beyond

The revolution in molecular biology has led to widespread appreciation of a principle first described by the British physician A.E. Garrod approximately 100 years ago — that “inborn errors of metabolism” teach us much about human biology in health and disease. Neonatal diabetes mellitus is a prime example of this principle.Neonatal diabetes mellitus is rare, with a reported incidence of 1 per 500,000 newborns and an estimated incidence of 1 per 100,000 newborns (Hattersley A: personal communication). Most newborns with neonatal diabetes mellitus are born with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). The degree of IUGR is proportional to the degree . . .