The Role of Viruses and the Immune System in Diabetes Mellitus: Experimental Models (Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology)

This volume provides extensive reviews on selected subjects of critical importance for understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Three experimental animal models are particularly important for the study of IDDM: the low dose streptozotocin induced diabetes in mice, the BB-rat and the NOD-mouse. The contributions focus on the most recent research work with these models. Two chapters describe the use of virus in experimental models of IDDM using Coxsackie B and rubella virus. One chapter reviews monoclonal autoantibodies from BB rats. A novel approach to define genetic elements associated with diabetes in the BB rat is described, and the role of MHC class II molecules in development of IDDM in mice, rats and humans is reviewed. A final chapter discusses the inferences that can be drawn from transgenic animal models on MHC molecules and the cells.