Enteroviruses and type 1 diabetes: towards a better understanding of the relationship (original) (raw)

The association between enteroviruses and type 1 diabetes

Romanian Journal of Diabetes Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, 2012

The hypothesis that under some circumstances enteroviral infections can lead to type 1 diabetes (T1D) was proposed several decades ago, based initially on evidence from animal studies and sero-epidemiology. The mechanisms leading to the disease involve complex interactions between the virus, host target tissue (pancreas) and the immune system. The following article is intended as a review of several recent information of the topic based on human studies that try to establish a connection between a viral infection and Type 1 diabetes. Through understanding better this association and it's implications in the onset of T1D potential new ways of prevention and treatment may emerge.

Enterovirus infections and type 1 diabetes mellitus: is there any relationship?

Several health organizations have classified diabetes mellitus, a metabolic syndrome, as the epidemic of the century, since it affects millions of people worldwide and is one of the top ten causes of death. Type 1 diabetes is considered to be an autoimmune disease, in which autoaggressive T cells infiltrate the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, leading to the destruction of insulin producing beta cells. The risk of the disease is modulated by genetic factors, mainly genes coding for human leukocyte antigens (HLA). However, the incidence of this disease has increased significantly during the recent decades, which cannot be explained only by genetic factors. Environmental perturbations have also been associated to the development of diabetes. Among these factors, viral triggers have been implicated; particularly enteroviruses, which have been associated to the induction of the disease. Supporting the hypothesis, numerous lines of evidence coming from mouse models and patients with this type of diabetes have shown the association. The present review aims to provide some understanding of how type 1 diabetes occurs and the possible role of enterovirus in this pathology.

Enteroviruses and type 1 diabetes

BMJ, 2011

Background Human enteroviruses, which are transmitted via a faecaloral route, have long been associated with type 1 diabetes onset. Increased hygiene in the 20th century may now be responsible for a decreased chance of enterovirus exposure from an early age onward. Infections with enteroviruses may also be more likely to occur at a later age; the recurrent poliomyelitis epidemics in the 20th century were linked to increased hygiene, consistent with this hypothesis. The association of fewer enterovirus exposures and increased diabetes rates may seem at first non-intuitive but may be explained using a combination of human observations and data from experimental coxsackie B virus infections in nonobese diabetic mice.

Role of coxsackievirus B4 in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes

Diabetes & Metabolism, 2008

Environmental factors, especially viruses, are thought to play an important role in the initiation or acceleration of the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Data from retrospective and prospective epidemiological studies strongly suggest that enteroviruses, such as coxsackievirus B4 (CV-B4), may be associated with the development of T1D. It has also been shown that enterovirus infections are significantly more prevalent in at-risk individuals such as the siblings of diabetic patients, when they develop anti-␤-cell autoantibodies or T1D, and in recently diagnosed diabetic patients, compared with control subjects. The isolation of CV-B4 from the pancreas of diabetic patients supports the hypothesis of a relationship between the virus and the disease. Furthermore, studies performed in vitro and in vivo in animal models have increased our knowledge of the role of CV-B4 in T1D by helping to clarify the pathogenic mechanisms of the infection that can lead to ␤-cell destruction, including direct virus-induced ␤-cell lysis, molecular mimicry, 'bystander activation' and viral persistence. The role of enteroviruses as the sole agents in T1D, and a causal link between these agents and T1D, have not yet been established, although arguments that support such a role for these viruses in the pathogenesis of the disease cannot be ignored.

Enteroviruses and type 1 diabetes mellitus

Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 2003

Despite decades of research, the etiology of type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) is unknown. Several risk factors have been associated with type 1 DM, including viral infections, genetic predisposition, nutritional factors, and chemicals. Several investigators hypothesize that the etiologies of type 1 DM result from a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors. In this paper we review the epidemiologic data linking enteroviruses to type 1 DM and discuss potential mechanisms of pathogenesis.

Enterovirus persistence as a mechanism in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes

Discovery medicine, 2014

Beyond acute clinical conditions, the role of enteroviruses (EVs) in chronic human diseases has been described. Although they are considered as highly cytolytic viruses, EVs can persist in various tissues. The persistence is believed to play a major role in the pathogenesis of EV related chronic diseases such as type 1 diabetes (T1D). T1D is characterized by an autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells, and results from interplay between a genetic predisposition, the immune system, and environmental factors. EVs and especially group B coxsackieviruses (CVB) have been the most incriminated as exogenous agents involved in the development of T1D. Enteroviral persistence is the result of a virus-host coevolution combining a cell resistance to lysis through mutations or down-regulation of viral receptor, and a decrease of the viral replication by genomic modifications or the production of a stable double-stranded RNA form. CVB can persist in pancreatic cells and therefore could tri...

Viruses and Type 1 Diabetes: From Enteroviruses to the Virome

2021

For over a century, viruses have left a long trail of evidence implicating them as frequent suspects in the development of type 1 diabetes. Through vigorous interrogation of viral infections in individuals with islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes using serological and molecular virus detection methods, and mechanistic studies of virus infected human pancreatic β-cells, the prime suspects have been narrowed down to predominantly human enteroviruses. Here we provide a comprehensive overview of evidence supporting the hypothesised role of enteroviruses in the development of islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes. We also discuss concerns over the historical focus and investigation bias toward enteroviruses, and summarise current unbiased efforts aimed at characterising the complete population of viruses (the “virome”) contributing early in life to the development of islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes. Finally, we review the range of vaccine and antiviral drug candidates currentl...