An overview of Argentine contributions to diabetes research in the decade of the 1990s

Abstract

Argentina has a longstanding tradition of diabetes research, beginning with the seminal work of Prof. Bernardo A. Houssay, who was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Medical Sciences for his studies on the relationship between diabetes and pituitary function. Prof. Luis F. Leloir, who was also awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in carbohydrate metabolism, also inspired younger generations of biologists to work in the field of diabetes research. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the contributions of Argentine researchers during the 1990s. This manuscript includes only reports of Argentine researchers working on diabetes in local laboratories and quoted in Medline. Thus, important contributions not reported in journals included in Medline or produced by Argentine researchers working abroad may have been omitted. The material consists of a brief description of clinical research (epidemiology and costs, metabolic control, associated risk factors, immunological aspects, and other clinical studies) and basic research (animal model with spontaneous diabetes, islet morphology and function in normal and pathological conditions, insulin action, metabolic disorders related to diabetes, and some miscellaneous effects related to drug-induced diabetes). Altogether, a broad idea of the continuous contribution of our national research to the international field of diabetes is provided, as well as a list of Argentine researchers and research centers devoted to the study of diabetes. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.