Functional impairment and killing of human beta cells by enteroviruses: the capacity is shared by a wide range of serotypes, but the extent is a characteristic of individual virus strains.

Item does not contain fulltextAIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Direct infection of beta cells could explain the diabetogenic effect of enteroviruses. Primary adult human beta cells are susceptible to coxsackievirus infections, which could result in impaired beta-cell function or cell death (coxsackieviruses B3, B4, B5) or both, or no apparent immediate adverse effects (coxsackievirus A9). We extended these studies to additional enterovirus serotypes including several echoviruses, some of which have been associated clinically with the development of Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. METHODS: The patterns and consequences of enterovirus infections were investigated in cultured adult human isolated islets. Cell type-specific infection and viability were assessed by immunocytochemical methods. Beta-cell function was studied by perifusion. RESULTS: Poliovirus type 1/Mahoney, coxsackievirus A13, human parechovirus 1 and several echoviruses (serotypes 6, 7, 11) were capable of causing significant functional impairment ( p