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Interferon-α therapy May induce insulin autoantibody development in patients with chronic viral hepatitis

  • Liver: Cirrhosis, Fibrosis, Portal Hyportension, And Transplantation
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Abstract

Development of type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus has been recently reported in patients who underwent interferon-α (IFN-α) therapy because of chronic viral hepatitis. Furthermore IFN-α seems to be involved in the immunological events that lead toβ-cell destruction and development of type 1 diabetes. To evaluate whether IFN-α treatment could elicit an autoimmune response againstβ-cell antigens, we determined the occurrence of islet cell antibodies and insulin autoantibodies in the sera of 60 patients with HCV- or HBV-related chronic hepatitis who had been treated with IFN-α for 6 or 12 months. The presence of antibodies against thyroglobulin, thyroid microsomal antigen, gastric parietal cells, and non-organ-specific antigens was also investigated. Insulin autoantibody positivity was observed in 2/60 (3.3%), 8/60 (13.3%), and 4/30 (13.3%) patients, before IFN-α treatment, and after 6 months and 12 months of therapy, respectively. None of the studied patients developed islet cell antibodies or type 1 diabetes. Before IFN-α therapy four patients showed thyroid autoantibodies and four others developed antibodies against thyroglobulin and/or thyroid microsomal antigen during the treatment. Coexistence of insulin autoantibodies and thyroid autoantibodies was observed in only two patients. Our results showed that IFN-α therapy in patients with chronic viral hepatitis is capable of inducing development of autoantibodies against insulin. This event seems to be not related to other autoimmune disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. From the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Enrico Di Cesare MD, Marcello Previti MD, Francesco Russo MD, Santa Brancatelli PhD, Maria Concetta Ingemi MD, Riccardo Scoglio MD, Nicola Mazzù PhD, Domenico Cucinotta MD & Giovanni Raimondo MD

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  1. Enrico Di Cesare MD
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  2. Marcello Previti MD
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  3. Francesco Russo MD
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Di Cesare, E., Previti, M., Russo, F. et al. Interferon-α therapy May induce insulin autoantibody development in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Digest Dis Sci 41, 1672–1677 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02087923

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02087923

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