Virus may cause type 1 diabetes

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Enteroviruses are the second leading cause of viral colds in children.

Type 1 Diabetes Associated With Common Cold Virus

von Wartburg

Feb 8, 2011

It's generally thought that a genetic predisposition to type 1

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/type-1-issues/> diabetes

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/> is not enough to develop the disease, but

that an environmental trigger is required to activate it. Researchers are

not sure what that environmental trigger is, but enteroviruses have been

under suspicion for quite a while. Enteroviruses are the second leading

cause of viral colds in children.

Now, a meta-analysis of 26 studies, published online in the British Medical

Journal, has found that children with type 1

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/type-1-issues/> diabetes

are nearly 10 times more likely to show signs of enterovirus infection than

children without type 1.

A previous review of studies had found no link to type 1 diabetes, but those

studies had searched for antibodies to enteroviruses in the blood. This

analysis examined studies that had used molecular methods to test for the

virus. Molecular testing, which looks for viral protein or RNA, is more

sensitive than blood testing.

Overall, data on more than 4,440 patients were studied. Of those with newly

diagnosed diabetes, 43 percent had had a recent enterovirus infection,

compared to just 6 percent of the control group. Children with the

autoimmunity that precedes type 1 were three times more likely to show

enterovirus infection signs than controls.

Because the incidence of type 1 diabetes in Europe has risen almost four

percent a year in recent years, scientists are looking for a change in

environmental triggers that might explain that rise. One theory is the

" hygiene hypothesis, " which proposes that mothers in countries with improved

hygiene don't pass on as many protective antibodies to their children as

mothers in the past, making their babies more susceptible to infections from

viruses.

These new findings don't prove causation; that is, the researchers cannot

tell if the virus caused the diabetes, or if the diabetes made the patients

more vulnerable to the virus. More research is called for. However, if it is

eventually proven that enterovirus infection triggers type 1 diabetes, a

vaccination could be developed that might prevent it.

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