A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Virus antibody survey in different European populations indicates risk association between coxsackievirus B1 and type 1 diabetes
Authors: Oikarinen S, Tauriainen S, Hober D, Lucas B, Vazeou A, Sioofy-Khojine A, Bozas E, Muir P, Honkanen H, Ilonen J, Knip M, Keskinen P, Saha MT, Huhtala H, Stanway G, Bartsocas C, Ludvigsson J, Taylor K, Hyöty H; VirDiab Study Group
Publication year: 2014
Journal: Diabetes
Volume: 63
Issue: 2
First page : 655
Last page: 662
Number of pages: 8
ISSN: 0012-1797
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2337/db13-0620
Web address : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24009257
Enteroviruses (EVs) have been connected to type 1 diabetes in various studies. The current study evaluates the association between specific EV subtypes and type 1 diabetes by measuring type-specific antibodies against the group B coxsackieviruses (CVBs), which have been linked to diabetes in previous surveys. Altogether, 249 children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes and 249 control children matched according to sampling time, sex, age, and country were recruited in Finland, Sweden, England, France, and Greece between 2001 and 2005 (mean age 9 years; 55% male). Antibodies against CVB1 were more frequent among diabetic children than among control children (odds ratio 1.7 [95% CI 1.0–2.9]), whereas other CVB types did not differ between the groups. CVB1-associated risk was not related to HLA genotype, age, or sex. Finnish children had a lower frequency of CVB antibodies than children in other countries. The results support previous studies that suggested an association between CVBs and type 1 diabetes, highlighting the possible role of CVB1 as a diabetogenic virus type.