Association study of IL2RA and CTLA4 gene variants with type-1 diabetes mellitus in children in the northwest of Iran

Introduction Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) (OMIM 222100) is an organ-specific and autoimmune disease that primarily affects children and adolescents. It is caused by destruction of the beta cells of Langerhans of the pancreas that secrete insulin, which occurs through the autoimmune processes. Therefore, the affected patients have to use insulin throughout their lives.1 The clinical symptoms of this disease include frequent urination (polyuria), excessive thirst (polydipsia), increased hunger (polyphagia), and weight loss.2-5 T1D comprises 5%–10% of the total number of diabetes cases, and the risk for each individual in a specified population is estimated to be 4%. This risk would be further increased by more than 1%, if the mother suffers from T1D, and by more than 3%, if the father is also affected.6 In recent decades, the prevalence of T1D has been increasing at a rapid rate, with an increase by about 40% from 1998 till 2010.7 T1D is a heterogeneous and complex disease, and genetic and environmental factors are involved in increasing the risk of its incidence. In this regard, several studies have been conducted on family cases and monozygotic and dizygotic twins, which have reported the genetic factor as one of the important factors in this disease.8,9 Diabetes is an epidemic disease and a major health risk in the world, and the situation is rapidly worsening. In the last three decades, BioImpacts Publishing