Viral antibodies in diabetes mellitus.

Sera from 123 patients with diabetes mellitus of recent onset, 155 patients with diabetes of more than two years' duration, and 250 normal persons were collected over a period of two and a half years. All sera were tested for neutralizing antibody to Coxsackie virus types B1-6, and a sample was tested for complement-fixing antibody to a number of viral, rickettsial, and mycoplasmal antigens.In diabetics of recent onset no evidence was found of any excess of antibodies to mumps virus or some common respiratory viruses. Insulin-dependent diabetes within three months of onset were found to have higher antibody titres to Coxsackie B virus, particularly of type B4, than either normal subjects or patients with diabetes of longer duration.