Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) has emerged in the last thirty years as a critical
complication of cystic fibrosis (CF) and is present in about 15% of CF patients with
increasing prevalence with age approaching 50 for over 30 year olds. The mechanism of
diabetes development in this group of patients is not very well defined but it seems to involve
pancreatic insufficiency and loss of β-cells in the pancreas. I propose that loss of β-cell mass
and thus the development of diabetes in CF patients is likely due to an apoptotic mechanism …