INSULITIS IN DIABETES – HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE
Keywords:
Insulitis
Abstract
“Insulitis” can be defined as the presence of lymphocityc infiltration inside or surrounding the islets of Langerhans. It seems that the first report of this kind of lesion in the medical literature has been published by Eugene L. Opie (1873-1971) in a paper from 1901. Soon, in 1902, the German pathologist Schmidt, using the optic microscope, observed a small peri- insular lymphocytic infiltrate in the pancreas of a small child that died soon after the diagnosis of diabetes at the age of 10 years. The next known report of this “strange” observation was published in 1927 when Warren also described the presence of inflammatory infiltrate surrounding the pancreatic islets without significant comments.