Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus as a possible sequelae of treatment of viral hepatitis with interferon-alpha]

Treatment of chronic hepatitis with interferon-alpha is an increasingly used successful therapeutic procedure. In the literature in recent years data accumulated on side-effects of interferon therapy, among which relatively frequently insulin dependent diabetes is mentioned. Interferon-alpha enhances the expression of molecules of the histocompatible complex I which may cause in genetically predisposed subjects the clinical manifestation of diabetes. It is therefore recommended to monitor before the onset of treatment and during interferon treatment the auto-antibody formation against islet cells and against insulin which signalizes changes in the pancreas before the clinical disease proper.