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 autoantibody formation against islet cells and against insulin which signalizes changes in the pancreas before the clinical disease proper.

        Key words: insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus – treatment with interferon-alpha – viral hepatitis.