Does the future hold a vaccine for type 1 diabetes?

Mikael Knip (lower row, on right side)

The next decade could see the development of a vaccine for type 1 diabetes, which could be given to all infants or those with a genetic susceptibility to the disease, according to a world expert.

A leading Professor of Paediatrics from Finland has suggested there is “increasing evidence” that the diabetic enterovirus may be a trigger for type 1 diabetes in children. If this is confirmed, Prof Mikael Knip of the University of Helsinki believes it may be possible to prevent about half of new cases with an anti-diabetes enterovirus vaccine.

Speaking to Irish Medical Times at the third annual 3U Partnership International Diabetes Conference, which took place at the RCSI in Dublin recently, Prof Knip accepted there was still a long way to go. “We will not have an anti-diabetic entero vaccine available within the next five to six years, but maybe within the next 10 years,” he stated.

The professor is currently the Principal Investigator for two extensive international multicentre studies on type 1 diabetes. One is TRIGR (Trial to Reduce IDDM in the Genetically at Risk) testing the hypothesis that weaning to an extensively hydrolysed formula will reduce the frequency of beta-cell autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes in children at risk. This trial is mainly funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Prof Knip addressed the 3U diabetes conference in a talk entitled ‘Current challenges in diabetes research’ on his work to date on the prevention of type 1 diabetes in children.

View more information on ~The Irish Medical Times here