The Role of Platelet-Activating Factor in Pathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a phospholipid mediator that exhibits diverse and potent effects on many cell types (1). PAF is a potent mediator of hypersensitivity and inflammatory reactions (2). Type 1 diabetes is caused by autoimmune destruction of the β-cells in the pancreas, which is initiated years before the clinical presentation of disease (3). In recent-onset type 1 diabetes and in animal models of autoimmune diabetes, a characteristic pathological finding in the islets of Langerhans is the accumulation of mononuclear cells and β-cell death (insulitis) (4,5). In this study, we investigated the role of PAF as an inflammatory mediator in pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes, …