Immunotherapies and their potential to preserve beta cells in type 1 diabetes: a review of current immunotherapy.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic immune-mediated disease that leads to the loss of beta cells in the pancreas, clinically characterized by polydipsia, polyphagia, and weight loss. The disease is most prevalent in the first and second decades of life, with a consistent annual increase. The dependence on insulin therapy indefinitely is well known.