Relationship between coxsackie B-4 virus infection and type-1 diabetes in children

ABSTRACT

Type-1 diabetes mellitus is believed to result from the selective autoimmune destruction of pancreatic islet cells, occurring in genetically predisposed subjects, and possibly triggered or accelerated by environmental agents. One of the environmental risk factors identified by several independent studies is represented by enteroviral infection. The virus was isolated from infected islets of patients, sequenced, and identified as a Coxsackie B4, In addition, isolated virus was able to in vitro infect cells from non-diabetic multi-organ donors, causing cell dysfunction characterized by impaired glucose stimulated insulin release. We tried to detect the incidence of virally caused type one Diabetes Mellitus with the Coxsackie B4 among cases in Pediatric Department in Assiut University Hospitals. Fifty three cases with recent onset diabetes and 25 matched controls were recruited for the study. We used different techniques to find our targets, including Tissue Culture and PCR. The search yields positively for CVB4 in 54.7% of cases and 4% of controls. Coxsackie B4 may be one of the most common causes of type I Diabetes Mellitus and should be considered in treating of these patients