|
 Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that often appears in
childhood and is the result of the body being unable to produce the
hormone insulin.
Scientists taking part in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes
in the Young (TEDDY) project have discovered four markers, or
autoantibodies, in the blood of the study's participants that make
it possible to detect the disease earlier, meaning that treatment
can also start earlier.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed
by the autoantibodies. Once the beta cells are destroyed, the body
can no longer produce insulin and cannot regulate blood sugar.
Lead researcher Ake Lernmark, from Sweden's Lund University, says
that measuring the levels of autoantibdodies in children's blood
indicates whether their immune system has started to attack beta
cells.
He says the autoantibodies appear years before the disease is
usually diagnosed.
"So the TEDDY study has discovered that the appearance of
autoantibodies against insulin producing cells, appear during the
first years of life, but the disease is not diagnosed until some ten
years later So that's the discovery. We now know where to look for
the trigger so we have to explain why this auto anti-bodies develop
and now we know that we should look during the first years of life,"
Lernmark told Reuters
The TEDDY study, which is funded by the US National Institutes of
Health (NIH), involves 8,600 children - with an increased hereditary
risk of type 1 diabetes - from Sweden, the United States, Germany
and Finland.
Lernmark's work has revealed triggers of type 1 diabetes in children
at a much earlier stage than was previously possible. The team now
wants to test all four-year-old children in Sweden.
"For the first time it will allow the researchers to look, to study,
the mechanisms that trigger this disease because in the past we
didn't know when to look. So if you take a newly diagnosed child and
you ask the question what happened to that child a month before
diagnosis, or one year before diagnosis - we already missed the
point and the point is that we have to look for the trigger during
the first years of life, not in conjunction with the diagnosis of
diabetes - it's too late," he said.
The new discovery could lead to earlier treatment and lower doses of
insulin used to treat the condition. It may even be possible for
sufferers to postpone or avoid symptoms as the disease develops.
Fredrik Nicklasson's children have been taking part in the study
since birth. He has to keep regular and detailed food diaries for
his son and two daughters, while they have to submit blood, stool
and nail samples, as well as information about illnesses and
medication.
[to top of second column] |
Nicklasson said the children did not mind the regular checks, as it
didn't feel like a hospital but more like play-school or a day-care
center.
"Well, I think they think it's quite fun - most of the time -
because it also involves some blood sampling but in our family that
hasn't been a big issue," he said.
Cornelia and Hedvig Nicklasson are used to the drill.
"She usually asks some questions... about what I eat, what I do and
then I'm measured to see how tall I am and how much I weigh compared
to last time and then they take a blood sample," Cornelia said.
"They take a blood sample, weigh and measure me and I've had to
answer some questions," said Hedvig.
It is still not known what causes the immune system to start
attacking the body's own insulin cells to start off with. One theory
is that a virus could be the trigger.
There is no cure for type 1 diabetes at the moment, but Lernmark
said a long term goal would be to find a vaccine.
"So let's assume, or hypothesize that there is a virus being
responsible for triggering these autoantibodies, the goal is then to
make a vaccine against that virus and if that would be the discovery
then the chances to prevent type-1 diabetes altogether is very
high," he said.
The study involves collaboration between leading researchers in
genetics, protein chemistry and metabolism to find out what triggers
the autoantibodies.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
