Two studies published on Thursday provide evidence that common enteroviruses may cause childhood diabetes, paving the way for potential vaccines against the life-threatening condition, researchers said. Enteroviruses normally cause colds, vomiting or diarrhoea, They were found in pancreatic tissue from 60 percent of children with type 1 diabetes, but in hardly any children without the disease. They also found that 40% of adults with type 2 diabetes had signs of the infection in insulin-producing cells. The study published in Diabetologia showed that 40 percent of adults with type 2 diabetes had signs of the infection in insulin-producing cells. “The story that is emerging is there is a virus infection that precedes the onset of autoimmunity,” Alan Foulis of the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow, who worked on one of the studies, told a news conference. “There is a thought that we are looking at the culprit.” Type 1 diabetes is caused by the destruction of beta cells of the pancreas that produce the insulin necessary to regulate blood sugar levels. The autoimmune disease is different from the far more common type 2 diabetes, which is strongly associated with obesity. Genetics play a role in diabetes but researchers know other factors such as diet are also important, with viruses long suspected as a possible trigger, researchers said. A second study from Cambridge University researchers found that rare genetic mutations in a gene involved with the body's response to viruses reduce the risk of juvenile diabetes. They looked at 480 young people with type 1 diabetes and another 480 healthy people to identify the gene and the variants involved. “We have pinpointed a specific gene, which acts as a warning report for virus infection,” said John Todd, a Cambridge University researcher, who worked on a study published in the journal Science. “Not only have we found a specific gene but this gene also has an intriguing function in dealing with virus infection.” While Todd cautioned that many environmental factors besides viruses could contribute to type 1 diabetes, Foulis and his team said they wanted to whittle down the some 100 enteroviruses to find which ones played the main roles. Doing this, and better understanding of how cells respond to viral infection, are steps toward a vaccine that could one day protect children against diabetes, Foulis said. “The aim would be for a vaccine that would prevent many cases of type 1 diabetes,” he added.
