The role of enterovirus infections in type 1 diabetes in Tunisia
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Imen Boussaid; Ramzi Zemni; Ines Slim; Foued Slama; Elyes Chabchoub; Asma Boumiza; Latifa Gueddah
- Source
- Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism. 30
- Subject
- Adult
Male
0301 basic medicine
medicine.medical_specialty
Tunisia
Adolescent
endocrine system diseases
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
030209 endocrinology & metabolism
Disease
medicine.disease_cause
Gastroenterology
Young Adult
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Endocrinology
Diabetes mellitus
Internal medicine
Enterovirus Infections
Humans
Medicine
Young adult
Child
Enterovirus
Type 1 diabetes
biology
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
business.industry
Case-control study
Autoantibody
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1
030104 developmental biology
Case-Control Studies
Child, Preschool
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
biology.protein
RNA, Viral
Female
Antibody
business
- Language
- ISSN
- 2191-0251
0334-018X
Background:Enteroviral infections have long been suspected in having a role in β cell destruction and therefore leading to the onset of clinical type 1 diabetes (T1D). The frequency of enterovirus (EV)-related T1D in North Africa is still unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between infection with EV and T1D in Tunisia.Methods:A total of 95 T1D patients (41 children and 54 adults) and 141 healthy control subjects (57 children and 84 adults) were tested for the presence of EV-RNA by a highly sensitive nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method.Results:EV-RNA was detected more frequently in plasma from diabetic patients than in plasma of controls (31.6% vs. 7.8%, pConclusions:EV-RNA is associated with T1D mellitus in the Tunisian population especially in children. These results support the hypothesis that EV act as environmental risk factors for T1D.