Oral use of interferon-alpha delays the onset of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in nonobese diabetes mice

Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in the nonobese diabetes (NOD) m ouse model is thought to be an autoimmune CD4 Th1-like cell-mediated diseas e. We tested the efficacy of oral use of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) thera py on IDDM in NOD mice. Using urine and blood sugar levels as indicators of IDDM, oral administration of murine IFN-alpha (100 IU/body) to NOD mice si gnificantly delayed the onset of symptomatic diabetes. However, oral use of IFN-alpha did not prevent diabetic NOD mice from losing weight once NOD mi ce were symptomatic, suggesting that orally administered IFN-alpha is a pro phylactic rather than therapeutic approach to the management of IDDM.