A viral infection may contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes – leading to prospects of an anti-diabetes vaccine, Norwegian researchers have reported.
They say they have detected the enterovirus in islets taken from the pancreas of these patients.
Researchers tested samples taken from six patients and compared them with samples from six organ donors who did not have diabetes.
The virus was found in four of the samples from the diabetes patients but not one of the samples from those without diabetes.
Researchers said the findings could lead to the development of vaccines against the virus to prevent diabetes.
Researcher Dr Lars Krogvold said the researchers now want to run a trial of anti-viral drugs to see if they can halt the development of diabetes and protect the pancreas from damage.
He said: “Our hope is that this can stop the destruction of the insulin-producing cells, and preserve the body’s residual insulin production capability. That will lessen the seriousness of the disease.
“Insulin-producing cells have the ability to regenerate, so if we are very lucky some patients may be able to stop insulin therapy completely.”
He added: “To be able to say with certainty that diabetes is caused by a virus, the virus must be identified in the morbid cells, which is what we have done.
“We also have to show that antiviral treatment or vaccines help to remove it.”
Fellow researcher Professor Knut Dahl-Jørgensen added: “This is a type of virus that occurs frequently among the population. It can cause colds and stomach bugs but also serious infections in the brain and heart, for example.”
Lars Krogvold, et al. Detection of a low-grade enteroviral infection in the islets of Langerhans of living patients newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes November 2014. [abstract]
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