Diabetes: Ylvie takes part in German prevention study as 100th child

A next milestone could be achieved in the Europe-wide cooperation for the prevention of type 1 diabetes, GPPAD ("Global Plattform for the Prevention of Autoimmune-Diabetes"): 100 children are now participating in the study around Saxony. 5 months old Ylvie from Oderwitz was welcomed at the university hospital Carl Gustav Carus at the TU Dresden as the 100th study participant.

"Despite the crisis with the Coronavirus, we are continuing our study under consideration of the most applicable security measures and taking into account all the official instructions – since our goal is to prevent this live long chronic disease in young children", emphasizes Prof. Dr. Ezio Bonifacio, group leader at the Center for Regenerative Therapies TU Dresden (CRTD) and one of the initiators of the study in Saxony. "Out of 188 spaces, which we can offer to the families here in our Dresden study site, we now have filled 100. By this, we want to early detect and possibly prevent this most common metabolic disease in small children."

Together with Prof. Dr. med. Reinhard Berner, director of the Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin at the university hospital, the Dresden POInT study site was established as one of seven sites in Europe: "POInT stands for primary orale insulin trial, with which we want to examine, whether oral insulin can protect children of a type 1 diabetes manifestation", explains Prof. Dr. Berner the study concept. "Especially now at this time of a pandemic, we become aware of the importance to prevent chronic diseases, knowing that type 1 diabetes patients belong to the high risk group."

By testing newborns during the Freder1k-study up to the age of four months, children with an elevated genetic risk to develop type 1 diabetes can be detected and offered to take part in the POInT study.

GPPAD is one of the biggest consortia in Europe with the aim to prevent type 1 diabetes in small children. With the use of daily oral insulin, children with a high genetic risk to develop type 1 diabetes, shall train their immune system, thereby prevent the outbreak of the disease. Study sites in five European countries (Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Great Britain and Poland) have initiated this innovative clinical trial in November 2017. 1040 infants with an elevated genetic risk to develop type 1 diabetes can be enroled into the study until 2024.

REHACARE.com; Source: Technische Universität Dresden