<p>This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</p> <p>The aim was to study whether different strains of
Coxsackievirus B4 (CBV-4) are able to infect human
pancreatic islet cells <italic> in vitro</italic> and cause morphological
and functional damages. Isolated islets
maintained in tissue culture were infected with
five well- characterised strains of CBV-4. Aliquots
of the culture medium were analysed with regard
to virus replication and insulin content. Infected
and uninfected islets were examined by light microscopy
to determine the degree of virus-induced
cytopathic effect (CPE). The results showed that
the islet cells were susceptible to infection by all
the strains of CBV-4 although the outcome of the
infection differed. The virus titres obtained at 48
and 72 hours post infection differed significantly
between all the CBV-4 strains (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), indicating
different ability to replicate in islet cells. Pronounced
to weak CPE, which was partly due to
the origin (donor) of the islets, was induced by
four of the five CBV-4 strains. One strain (VD2921)
replicated without causing CPE despite high
virus titres. One (V89-4557) of the CBV-4 strains
always revealed pronounced CPE. Infection by this strain also caused functional impairment that
significantly affected insulin response to high glucose
at 48 hours post infection (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). Replication
of another CBV-4 strain (JVB) in the islet cells
significantly increased the release of insulin compared
to non-infected control cells (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) indicating
damage of the β-cells leading to leakage of
insulin.</p>
[]
Int J Exp Diabetes Res. 2000; 1(3):165-175