β-cell regeneration in human pancreas: The lessons of pancreatic pathology

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus has been traditionally classified as Type 1 and Type 2 on the basis of several criteria that generally reflect either insulin deficiency or functional defects in insulin secretion. In this chapter, we propose a new classilication diabetes based on age of onset, body mass index and biomarkers such as islet autoantibodies and DR HLA alleles. In the second part of this chapter, we briefly discuss some novel hypotheses on the possibility of β-cell regeneration in diabetes in relation to the islet pathology of the disease.