CD44 and Autoimmunity: To determine putative changes in gene expression induced by betamethasone, 13 genes known to be related to T1D were selected: Ins2, Gad1, Gad2 (autoantigens), Cd44, Cd14, Ccl2, Il22ra1, Cxcl2 (related to autoimmunity), and Tcf7l2, Pcsk1, Pten, Igfr1, Ptprj (related to metabolism and islet cell mass).