Induction of type I diabetes by interferon-alpha in transgenic mice

Type I diabetes is caused by the progressive loss of pancreatic Β cells and is associated with several autoimmune phenomena (1). Although particular alleles closely linked to the major histocompatibility [...]
Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease involving an interaction between an epigenetic event (possibly a viral infection), the pancreatic Β cells, and the immune system in a genetically susceptible host. The possibility that the type I interferons could mediate this interaction was tested with transgenic mice in which the insulin-producing cells expressed an interferon-[Alpha]. These mice developed a hypoinsulinemic diabetes associated with a mixed inflammation centered on the islets. The inflammation and the diabetes were prevented with a neutralizing antibody to the interferon-[Alpha]. Thus, the expression of interferon-a by the cells could be causal in the development of type I diabetes, which suggests a therapeutic approach to this disease.