Diabetes is a metabolic disease characterized mainly by impaired insulin secretion and action which has recently become a global pandemic threat. Diabetes is a multifactorial heterogeneous and chronic low-grade inflammatory, metabolic disease. Latent viral infections could be attributed to diabetes. So, we aimed to investigate the association of two infectious viruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and some cytokines with diabetes. Detection of EBV and CMV in serum of T2D patients was performed by PCR method. The serum level of Interleukin 1β (IL-1β), Interleukin 10 (IL-10), and Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in diabetic patients were measured by ELISA method. The body mass index (BMI)), liver related enzymes assays including, Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Alanine transaminase (ALT), and Aspartate transaminase (AST), were measured, and then significant differences compared to the healthy group were statistically analyzed (p<0.01). According to our result, CMV and EBV viremia were detected in the diabetic group compared to healthy group. The level of the inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β), and the Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activity were increased in diabetic group compared to non-diabetic group. The level of the IL-10 as an anti-inflammatory cytokine was decreased in T2D patient compared to healthy individuals. In conclusion, the high BMI, elevated level of TNF-α, IL-1β, increased ALP activity, and lower level of IL-10 could be considered as valid factors to assess diabetes. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that CMV and EBV infection could increase the possibility of T2D specifically in patients when have higher BMI than normal. As, it was concluded that there are associations between these viral infections and T2D, therefore CMV and EBV infection could increase the risk factor of T2D.
