Type 1 Diabetes Has Traditionally Been Considered a T-Cell-Mediated Autoimmune $\beta$

True/False

Type 1 diabetes has traditionally been considered a T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease. However, recent studies have shown that treatment of newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients with rituximab (ant-CD20 antibody) had a significant effect in slowing down the progression of their disease. These results indicate that autoantibodies likely contribute to the process of pancreatic $\beta$ -islet cell destruction in these patients.