Since MAP persists within macrophages and it is also processed by dendritic cells, further studies are necessary to evaluate if mutant forms of SLC11A1 alter the processing or presentation of MAP antigens triggering thereby an autoimmune response in T1DM patients.
Iron and infection: effects of host iron status and the iron-regulatory genes haptoglobin and NRAMP1 (SLC11A1) on host-pathogen interactions in tuberculosis and HIV.
Because allele 2 was shown to be associated with low expression of SLC11A1 and protection against another autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, the negative association of allele 2 with autoimmune type 1 diabetes in the present study suggests that a less active immune system in subjects with allele 2 may protect individuals from autoimmune diseases.
The association study of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene, located near the NRAMP1 gene, and type 1 diabetes showed that the CTLA-4 gene significantly contributed to the development of type 1 diabetes, whereas NRAMP1 had an additional effect on the onset of type 1 diabetes in the young population.