A shot for diabetes?
According to observations, some viral infections may play a role in autoimmune damage to the pancreas, which leads to type 1 diabetes mellitus. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and their Finnish colleagues have created an antiviral vaccine in the hope that it will be able to provide protection against this disease.
In Sweden, about 50,000 people live with type 1 diabetes, and the causes of the disease remain unknown. The influence of genetic factors has been proven, but a combination of environmental conditions is also necessary for the development of the disease. One of the components that are considered significant in type 1 diabetes is infections caused by a common group of enteroviruses, in particular Coxsackie B viruses (CVB) – six strains that usually cause colds. However, CVBS can also cause more serious infections leading to severe diseases, including myocarditis and meningitis.
One hypothesis suggests that CVBS play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus. The disease is characterized by an autoimmune lesion of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, and it is possible that a viral infection somehow initiates this attack of the immune system.
Epidemiological studies in which children with a genetic risk of type 1 diabetes have been observed for many years indicate that CVB increases the risk of the disease. There are also autopsy results, also indicating that CVB may be involved in the development of type 1 diabetes. However, this is still a hypothesis, since the connection has not yet been proven.
Possible vaccine against Coxsackie virus In
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and their colleagues from the University of Tampere and the University of Jyvaskyl in Finland have created a vaccine that protects against all six known CVB strains. The vaccine has been tested on various animal models and has been shown to protect mice infected with CVB from developing virus-related type 1 diabetes.
The researchers tested the vaccine on rhesus monkeys, whose genetics are very similar to human ones. In these animals, the vaccine worked well and induced antibodies to CVB that protect against the virus.
The results of the study are an argument in favor of the viral nature of type 1 diabetes mellitus, they provide a scientific justification for further research aimed at testing the vaccine on humans.
Next steps
The researchers plan to use the vaccine in children with a genetic risk profile for type 1 diabetes. They write that if the number of sick children decreases after vaccination, it will confirm that CERS are an environmental risk factor.
At the same time, the vaccine will provide protection against myocarditis, which can have a severe course in both children and adults, as well as from certain types of colds.
Article by V.M.Stone et al. A hexavalent Coxsackievirus B vaccine is highly immunogenic and has a strong protective capacity in mice and nonhuman primates published in the journal Science Advances.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Karolinska Institutet: Possible vaccine for virus linked to type 1 diabetes.