Type 1 diabetes is a disease for which there is a palliative treatment, based on the administration of insulin or in some cases on the transplantation of pancreatic endocrine islets. However, there is no cure or prevention for T1DM. The disease can occur at any age, but it appears mostly in the young and very young, with an increased incidence in children under 5 years of age. Research is active to better understand the pathogenesis of the disease. A better understanding of the pathogenesis should open avenues for developing new approaches to patient management and might lead to the development of prevention strategies.

T1DM is an autoimmune disease. The study of the immunological mechanisms involved in the development of the disease at the cellular and host levels is essential. A body of epidemiological evidence, as well as experimental work, performed in vitro and in vivo in animal models, supports the role of viruses in the pathogenesis of T1DM. Viruses belonging to various families of viruses are likely to be involved, but it is mainly viruses of the Picornaviridae family, of the Enterovirus genus, in particular coxsackievirus B, that are the subject of the majority of studies.

The role of viruses in T1DM is strongly suspected but many questions remain open. Do viruses trigger or aggravate the disease? By what mechanisms are they likely to disrupt homeostasis leading to chronic pathology? The viral pathogenesis of T1DM is certainly the result of interactions between viral agents and the host.

These interactions involve the host's immune system and genetic background as well as microbiota. It is not excluded that the impact of viruses on the organism involves the activation of factors such as endogenous retroviruses which in turn are able to activate immunological processes with potentially deleterious effects.

This collection of articles at Frontiers in Immunology is dedicated to the immunological and virological aspects of the pathogenesis of T1DM.

Original articles and reviews are welcome to provide new knowledge about the pathogenesis and approaches to control this chronic disease which has a significant impact on the whole life of diabetic patients, as well as on the society from the socio-economic point of view.

We expect submissions based on (but not limited to):

• Immunological aspects of the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes
• Viral pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes
• Fighting type 1 diabetes based on the immunological and virological aspects of the pathogenesis of the disease

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Frontiers in Immunology

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