Enteroviruses in the mouse model of type 1 diabetes

Findings of pancreatitis in mice after infection with the human enteroviruses coxsackievirus B (CVB) suggested a relationship to the onset of type 1 diabetes (Coleman et al. 1973), a correlation that had been suggested by studies that had variably found a serologic relationship of CVB4 to recent onset diabetic patients (Gamble et al. 1969). Although other enteroviruses may well be involved in induction of pancreatitis and type 1 diabetes (Tracy et al. 2010), the ability of CVBs to use the murine homolog of the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor CAR (Bergelson et al. 1997; Carson et al. 1997; Tomko et al. 1997; Bergelson et al. 1998) makes CVB-induced murine pancreatitis and diabetes a model for the human disease.