As such, the clinical relevance of the current study’s findings in which the plasma insulin, though low, was nevertheless still present, as were sparse ß-cells, may be most applicable to those ~30% of patients with auto-immune destructive (type 1A) diabetes in whom numerous ß cells remain or in antibody negative (type 1B) disease in which insulin positive cells, though reduced in number, are still found in all islets21. Here, INS is linked to diabetes mellitus.