Hsp60 is also known to be elevated in serum of diabetes patients and has been shown to be upregulated by hyperglycaemic growth conditions in cultured human HeLa cells.
Indeed, HSP60 expression levels in SAT were significantly increased by exercise in the diabetes group, whereas they were decreased in the non-diabetes group.
The levels of circulating Hsp60 in 860 participants from the Whitehall cohort and 761 individuals diagnosed with diabetes have been measured and related to psychological, biological, and genetic factors.
Analysis of antibody-positive individuals revealed an association between hsp60 antibodies and diabetes at borderline significance (p = 0.047), which was lost when the two antibody-negative individuals were included.
Our results extend the role of specific hsp60 immunomodulation in the control of beta cell autoimmunity and demonstrate that immunoregulatory networks activated by specific phsp60 vaccination can spread to other Ags targeted during the progression of diabetes, like insulin and GAD.