Figure 7.

Potential contributions of toxic metals to pancreatic disorders. Exposures to toxic metals allow their entry into islet, acinar, and periductal cells. (1) Toxic metals could induce mutations in cells, aided by genetic susceptibility to metal toxicity and by synergistic effects between metals. (2) Toxic metals promoting autoimmunity in islet cells could precipitate type I diabetes mellitus in people with a genetic predisposition to immune overactivity. (3) Toxic metals causing oxidative stress could contribute to islet cell loss in type II diabetes mellitus.