A common virus may be the trigger for the development of many cases of diabetes, particularly in children, UK researchers have reported.
Signs of enteroviruses were found in pancreatic tissue from 60% of children with type 1 diabetes, but in hardly any children without the disease.
They also found that 40% of adults with type 2 diabetes had signs of the infection in insulin-producing cells.
The study published in Diabetologia raises the possibility of a vaccine.
Although genetics is known to play a fairly substantial role in a person's risk of developing diabetes, environmental factors must also be involved and the idea of a viral cause of diabetes has been considered for decades.
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