Infection of human pancreatic beta cell cultures with mumps virus

THE development of a diabetes-like syndrome in virus-infected animals, particularly in certain strains of mice infected with the M-variant of encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus has recently been demonstrated1,2. The possibility that viruses might also cause diabetes mellitus in humans, particularly in juveniles, has been suggested periodically since the turn of the century1–6. The evidence, however, is largely circumstantial and comes from case reports showing a temporal relationship between the onset of certain viral infections, particularly mumps, and the subsequent development of diabetes. Although it has been known for some time that pancreatitis may be a complication of mumps7–10, specific involvement of the beta cells has never been demonstrated. Since it is not feasible to obtain pancreatic biopsies during the course of viral infections, we initiated experiments to determine if human pancreatic beta cells grown in culture were susceptible to mumps virus. We have used a double-label antibody technique, using fluorescein labelled anti-mumps antibody and rhodamine labelled anti-insulin antibody, and we show here for the first time that human beta cells can be infected with mumps virus.