Criteria for exclusion from the study group were other types of diabetes, coexistence of other autoimmune disease (e.g., celiac disease), multiple autoimmune diseases in one patient, the occurrence of microvascular complications, previous recognition of hypertension or hyperlipidemia, and/or taking any additional drugs apart from insulin treatment and levothyroxine (from 0.5 to 2.0 mcg/kg body mass/day orally) if classified into the HD group. Here, INS is linked to diabetes mellitus.