Viral infection during pregnancy can increase Type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases in offsprings, according to a new study.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University found that children born in winter are prone to auto immune disorders because viral outbreaks during this season are common. Mothers who contract a viral infection can transmit viruses which can lead to genetic problems in fetuses that lead to Type 1 diabetes. The study was conducted on 107 healthy pregnant women where the team performed blood tests for islet cell autoantibodies, which are the first indicators of diabetes. The tests for anti-rotavirus and anti-CoxB3 antibodies were also done.
"We knew that Type 1 diabetes was associated with other autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto Thyroiditis, celiac disease, and multiple sclerosis, so we investigated the seasonality of birth months for these respective diseases in Israel and other countries," Dr. Zvi Laron, a professor emeritus of Pediatric Endocrinology at Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, said in a press release.
"We found that the seasonality of the birth of children who went on to develop these diseases did indeed differ from that of the general public. In further studies, we found evidence that viral infections of the mother during pregnancy induced damage to the pancreas of the mother and/or the foetus, evidenced by specific antibodies including those affecting the pancreatic cells producing insulin," he said.
Researchers found the prevalence of fetal immune response through the high concentrations of cord blood antibodies.
Laron explained that once this hypothesis is verified then preventive vaccine before conception would be useful in stopping the increasing incidences of Type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. "There is no cure for this diabetes, so true intervention would be important not only medically but also psychologically and financially, as the costs of the lifelong treatment of this chronic disease and other autoimmune diseases are great."
