Author Interviews, Diabetes, Genetic Research, Herpes Viruses / 12.05.2022
Association of Common Herpes Viruses with PreDiabetes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof. Annette Peters PhD
Chair of Epidemiology
Institute of Medical Information Sciences, Biometry and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians University
Munich, Germany
Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), München-Neuherberg, Germany
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: A large number of genetic, behavioural and environmental risk factors have been identified as contributing to the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, little is known about a potential link between virus infections and type 2 diabetes developments.
We had the unique opportunity to use a multiplex assay to measure antibodies for herpes viruses by the Waterboer laboratory at the German Cancer Center in Heidelberg and set out to investigate the potential associations in the prospective KORA cohort.
First of all, we detected that herpes virus antibodies were highly prevalent in the study population at baseline and increased with age.
We found an association between Herpes simplex virus 2 and cytomegalovirus and type 2 diabetes during a seven year follow-up. These associations were robust against controlling for other known risk factors. (more…)