Virus may trigger type 1 diabetes, say researchers
Data from two studies show a clear link between the condition and group B coxsackieviruses, which are known to damage insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease caused by the body’s defences destroying insulin-producing beta cells. But what triggers the extreme immune reaction has been an unanswered question.
Suspicion has fallen on enteroviruses, one of the most common infective agents in humans.
They include the virus responsible for the common cold, as well as those responsible for polio and viral meningitis.
The new study narrowed the diabetes culprit down to one particular entero- virus population known as group B coxsackieviruses.
A similar association was not seen between 35 other enterovirus types and type 1 diabetes.
Researchers looked at data from two studies. One, the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention study, followed children at genetic risk for type 1 diabetes from birth to 15 years of age. The other, VirDiab, included children with newly diagnosed diabetes from five European states.
The findings, from a team led by Professor Heikki Hyoty, from the University of Tampere in Finland, appear in the journal Diabetes.
Karen Addington, CEO of type 1 diabetes charity JDRF said: “Here we have two major studies, independently done, both indicating that particular viruses could have some role in triggering type 1 diabetes in children with a high genetic risk of the condition.
“The next step is that causation, rather than correlation, needs to be established behind the fact that these children with type 1 diabetes also had these viruses. This could take considerable time. But if achieved, it may be that with screening and a vaccine for the viruses, we can prevent a proportion of type 1 diabetes incidences.”
