Growth of rotaviruses in primary pancreatic cells.

Rotavirus infection in children at risk of developing type 1 diabetes has been temporally associated with development of pancreatic islet autoantibodies. In this study, nonobese diabetic mice were shown to be susceptible to rhesus rotavirus infection and pancreatic islets from nonobese diabetic mice, nonobese diabetes-resistant mice, fetal pigs, and macaque monkeys supported various degrees of rotavirus growth. Human rotaviruses replicated in monkey islets only. This islet susceptibility shows that rotavirus infection of the pancreas in vivo might be possible.

The non-immune RIP-Kb mouse is a useful host for islet transplantation, as the diabetes is spontaneous, mild and predictable.

Chemically-induced diabetic mice and spontaneously diabetic NOD mice have been valuable as recipients for experimental islet transplantation. However, their maintenance often requires parenteral insulin. Diabetogenic chemicals can be cytotoxic to the host's immune system and to other organs some of which are often used as the transplant site. Procurement of diabetic cohorts in the NOD mouse is problematic due to variability in the age of disease onset. We show that RIP-Kb mice, which spontaneously develop non-immune diabetes due to over-expression of the H-2Kb heavy chain in beta cells, offer many advantages as islet transplant recipients. Diabetes is predictable with a relatively narrow range of onset (4 wk) and blood glucose levels (23.0 +/- 4.0 mmol/l for 39 males at 6 weeks of age). The diabetes is mild enough so that most diabetic mice can be maintained to 40 weeks of age without parenteral insulin. This consistency of diabetes avails that outcomes of intervention can be interpreted with confidence.