New clinical study aims to prevent type 1 diabetes in children

Type 1 diabetes is the most common metabolic disease in children and adolescents worldwide. It can be particularly dangerous as often there is no diagnosis until severe and sometimes life-threatening symptoms have already developed. The new ‘SINT1A‘ study explores the potential of a specific probiotic to strengthen the immune system early-on in children with increased genetic risk of type 1 diabetes, and thus prevent its development. Middle East Health reports.

Around one in 300 children and adolescents are diagnosed with the autoimmune disease type 1 diabetes by 18 years of age. Around 90 percent of patients do not have a close relative with type 1 diabetes, meaning the disease can affect any child without a disease history in their family. People with type 1 diabetes must inject the hormone insulin for the rest of their lives because their immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the “islets” of their pancreas. Insulin has a vital function, transporting sugar from the blood into the body’s cells. The body’s own insulin is often the first target of the immune reaction which leads to type 1 diabetes.

In early stages of type 1 diabetes, so-called islet autoantibodies appear in the blood as a result of the immune system attacking the insulin-producing cells. Researchers know from earlier studies that children who develop these antibodies can suffer from imbalances in their intestinal flora in early childhood. The new SINT1A (Supplementation with B. Infantis for Mitigation of Type 1 Diabetes Autoimmunity) study aims to prevent the occurrence of islet autoantibodies in children with an increased genetic risk of type 1