Coxsackie Virus B is one possible cause amongst many:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2570378/
Certain viruses might promote autoimmunity.
A significant number of viruses have been associated with type 1 diabetes, including enteroviruses such as Coxsackievirus B (CVB) (
4), but also rotavirus (
5,
6), mumps virus (
7), and cytomegalovirus (
8). Rubella virus has been suggested to cause type 1 diabetes, but so far only congenital rubella syndrome has conclusively been associated with the disease (
9–
11).
The prime viral candidates for causing type 1 diabetes in humans are enteroviruses. Enterovirus infections are more frequent in siblings developing type 1 diabetes compared with nondiabetic siblings, and enterovirus antibodies are elevated in pregnant mothers whose children later develop type 1 diabetes (
12). Interestingly, studies in the Finnish population demonstrated that appearance of autoantibodies in genetically susceptible children paralleled the seasonal pattern of enterovirus infections (
13). More specifically, a temporal association has been observed between the appearance of the first autoantibodies and signs of enterovirus infection both among siblings of affected children and among children with increased HLA-conferred diabetes susceptibility (
14).
CVB4 is the most common enteroviral strain found in pre-diabetic and diabetic individuals. CVB RNA has been detected in blood from patients at the onset or during the course of type 1 diabetes (
15,
16). Furthermore, cellular immune responses to CVB antigens were found to be enhanced in type 1 diabetic patients after the onset of the disease (
17). One CVB4 strain was isolated from the pancreas of a deceased diabetic child, passaged through murine β-cells, and found to induce diabetes after inoculation in mice (
18). Recently, Dotta et al. (
19) also detected CVB4 in pancreatic tissue specimens from three of six type 1 diabetic patients. Elshebani et al. (
20) recently found that enterovirus isolates obtained from newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic patients could infect and induce destruction of human islet cells in vitro.
Recently, Oikarinen et al. (
21) have
isolated enteroviruses from intestinal biopsy samples in 75% of type 1 diabetes cases versus 10% of control patients, possibly reflecting persistent enterovirus infection of gut mucosa in type 1 diabetic patients. In sum, isolation of enteroviral antigens from diabetic individuals, particularly after recent onset, is becoming a fairly reproducible finding, supporting a role for these viruses in disease development.
However, it is still unclear whether this phenomenon is indeed a common etiology for the majority of patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, or whether it can be found only in a particular subpopulation of individuals with perhaps higher genetic susceptibility to infection.
(In other words, they don't know whether these infections are causal factors or consequences of type 1. I suspect the former)
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It's interesting they mention Finnish children getting type 1 often, who have similar diets and environment to Russian ones across the border, because I've read independently that they have a
much higher risk (nearly SIX times) of type 1 diabetes despite that. And one possible cause is the over-use of anti-biotics in western countries compared to Russia where its use is much rarer and restricted (apparently, I'm not an expert on this).
I do think antibiotics could be implicated here somewhat, as per several studies on the subject (they alter the mix of gut microbes and reduce biodiversity which is necessary for fight off viral infections):
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160822124927.htm
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One thing seems clear: try to avoid giving antibiotics to your babes, if you can. And even avoid taking them yourselves because germs are shared amongst family members (even from your skin! There's a theory out there about type 2 diabetes being transmitted by touch for this reason. And enteroviruses for type 1 babies probably come from the mother, certainly some source at the home. I would check for this type of infection in all family members and pets too).
And you don't need to take antiobiotics for the full course, and can stop taking them when you feel better. General broad-spectrum antibiotics create antibiotic-resistant germs and destroy your healthy gut germs in the process (resulting in "gut dysbiosis") which is crucial to avoid auto-immunity. It kills the good and the bad germs indiscriminately. You don't want this.