Type 1 Diabetes Incidence and Risk in Children With a Diagnosis of COVID-19

Exogenous Insulin Antibody Syndrome (EIAS) Presenting in an Elderly, Long-Term Patient with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus that Resolved with Low-Cost Outpatient Therapy with Mycophenolate Mofetil and Regular Insulin by Pump

Exogenous insulin antibody syndrome (EIAS) has until recently been a rarely described complication of exogenous insulin therapy. EIAS results not only in hyperglycemia, but also in hypoglycemia and occasionally in ketoacidosis (DKA). The incidence of EIAS is increasing probably due to an overall increase in autoimmunity associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) epidemic resulting in increasing binding of insulin by antibodies. Herein, we describe a case of EIAS occurring in an elderly patient with longstanding type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) who had progressive loss of glycemic control. It responded positively, as we have previously described, to oral mycophenolate mofetil and the use of soluble regular insulin delivered by continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Therefore, EIAS is an increasingly frequent cause of hyperglycemia with and without DKA, and hypoglycemia in subjects with T1DM. Once diagnosed, they can be treated with mycophenolate mofetil and soluble insulin in an outpatient setting, which will decrease the rate of hospitalization and lower the expense of therapy.

Clinical and immunological characteristics of children diagnosed with-Type 1 diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic

AIMS

To find clinical and immunological signatures of the SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic on children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

METHODS

A single-centre, retrospective, observational study comparing the clinical and immunological characteristics of children diagnosed with T1D the year before and during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data extracted from the medical records included clinical and demographic parameters, COVID-19 PCR results and the presence of anti-islet, thyroid and celiac-related antibodies. Also obtained from the medical records was a family history of T1D, celiac disease and autoimmune thyroid disease in a first-degree family member.

RESULTS

A total of 376 children were diagnosed with T1D during the study period. A total of 132 in the pre-COVID era and 246 in the first 2 years of the pandemic. At diagnosis, the pH in children with DKA was lower, and HbA1c tended to be higher in the COVID-19 group compared to the pre-COVID-19 group (7.30 [7.18, 7.35] vs 7.33 [7.19, 7.36], p = 0.046) and (110.9 [86.9, 129.5] vs 100 [80.3, 129.5], p = 0.067]) respectively. Multiple islet antibodies (IA) were significantly more common among patients in the pre-COVID-19 group compared to the COVID-19 group (72% vs 61%, p = 0.032). Tissue transglutaminase antibodies were more common among children diagnosed in the COVID-19 compared to the pre-COVID group (16.6% vs 7.9%, p = 0.022).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 and the environmental alterations caused by the pandemic affected the clinical characteristics and the immunological profile of children diagnosed with T1D. It is, therefore, plausible that the virus plays a role in the autoimmune process causing T1D.

Early-childhood body mass index and its association with the COVID-19 pandemic, containment measures and islet autoimmunity in children with increased risk for type 1 diabetes

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS

The aim of this study was to determine whether BMI in early childhood was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures, and whether it was associated with the risk for islet autoimmunity.

METHODS

Between February 2018 and May 2023, data on BMI and islet autoimmunity were collected from 1050 children enrolled in the Primary Oral Insulin Trial, aged from 4.0 months to 5.5 years of age. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic was defined as 18 March 2020, and a stringency index was used to assess the stringency of containment measures. Islet autoimmunity was defined as either the development of persistent confirmed multiple islet autoantibodies, or the development of one or more islet autoantibodies and type 1 diabetes. Multivariate linear mixed-effect, linear and logistic regression methods were applied to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringency index on early-childhood BMI measurements (BMI as a time-varying variable, BMI at 9 months of age and overweight risk at 9 months of age), and Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the effect of BMI measurements on islet autoimmunity risk.

RESULTS

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased time-varying BMI (β = 0.39; 95% CI 0.30, 0.47) and overweight risk at 9 months (β = 0.44; 95% CI 0.03, 0.84). During the COVID-19 pandemic, a higher stringency index was positively associated with time-varying BMI (β = 0.02; 95% CI 0.00, 0.04 per 10 units increase), BMI at 9 months (β = 0.13; 95% CI 0.01, 0.25) and overweight risk at 9 months (β = 0.23; 95% CI 0.03, 0.43). A higher age-corrected BMI and overweight risk at 9 months were associated with increased risk for developing islet autoimmunity up to 5.5 years of age (HR 1.16; 95% CI 1.01, 1.32 and HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.00, 2.82, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION

Early-childhood BMI increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was influenced by the level of restrictions during the pandemic. Controlling for the COVID-19 pandemic, elevated BMI during early childhood was associated with increased risk for childhood islet autoimmunity in children with genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes.

Endothelial Extracellular Vesicles Enriched in microRNA-34a Predict New-Onset Diabetes in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Patients: Novel Insights for Long COVID Metabolic Sequelae

Emerging evidence indicates that the relationship between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and diabetes is 2-fold: 1) it is known that the presence of diabetes and other metabolic alterations poses a considerably high risk to develop a severe COVID-19; 2) patients who survived a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection have an increased risk of developing new-onset diabetes. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are mostly unknown, and there are no reliable biomarkers to predict the development of new-onset diabetes. In the present study, we demonstrate that a specific microRNA (miR-34a) contained in circulating extracellular vesicles released by endothelial cells reliably predicts the risk of developing new-onset diabetes in COVID-19. This association was independent of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking status, and D-dimer. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: We demonstrate for the first time that a specific microRNA (miR-34a) contained in circulating extracellular vesicles released by endothelial cells is able to reliably predict the risk of developing diabetes after having contracted coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This association was independent of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking status, and D-dimer. Our findings are also relevant when considering the emerging importance of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, with systemic manifestations observed even months after viral negativization (long COVID).

COVID-19, Pregnancy, and Diabetes Mellitus

During the severe acute respiratory distress virus coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, many women were infected during their pregnancies. The SARS-CoV-2-induced coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has an impact on maternal health and pregnancy outcomes; peripartum and perinatal morbidity and mortality are increased. Pregnancy is considered a risk factor for severe COVID-19 course. Additional risk factors during pregnancy are diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and obesity. Systemic inflammation can lead to severe metabolic dysregulation with ketoacidosis. The endocrine pancreas is a target organ for SARS-CoV-2 and the fetal risk depends on inflammation of the placenta. Up to now there is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy leads to permanent diabetes in mothers or their offspring via triggering autoimmunity or beta cell destruction. The frequently observed increased prevalence of GDM compared to the years before the pandemic is most likely due to changed lifestyle during lockdown. Furthermore, severe COVID-19 may be associated with the development of GDM due to worsening of glucose tolerance. Vaccination with a mRNA vaccine is safe and highly effective to prevent infection and to reduce hospitalization. Registries support offering evidence-based recommendations on vaccination for pregnant women. Even with the current omicron virus variant, there are increased risks for symptomatic and unvaccinated pregnant women.

Type 1 diabetes: A new vision of the disease based on endotypes

Diagnosis and management of type 1 diabetes (T1D) have remained largely unchanged for the last several years. The management of the disease remains primarily focused on its phenotypical presentation and less on endotypes, namely the specific biological mechanisms behind the development of the disease. Furthermore, the treatment of T1D is essentially universal and indiscriminate-with patients administering insulin at varying dosages and frequencies to maintain adequate glycaemic control. However, it is now well understood that T1D is a heterogeneous disease with many different biological mechanisms (i.e. endotypes) behind its complex pathophysiology. A range of factors, including age of onset, immune system regulation, rate of β-cell destruction, autoantibodies, body weight, genetics and the exposome are recognised to play a role in the development of the condition. Patients can be classified into distinct diabetic subtypes based on these factors, which can be used to categorise patients into specific endotypes. The classification of patients into endotypes allows for a greater understanding of the natural progression of the disease, giving rise to more accurate and patient-centred therapies and follow-up monitoring, specifically for other autoimmune diseases. This review proposes 6 unique endotypes of T1D based on the current literature. The recognition of these endotypes could then be used to direct therapeutic modalities based on patients' individual pathophysiology.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Increased the Incidence of New-Onset Type One Diabetes in Children

Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence rate of childhood type 1 diabetes (T1D) is controversial. Our aim was to analyze the incidence of new-onset T1D among children aged 0-17 before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Methods: Data obtained from the national T1D registry for children aged 0-17 were analyzed for the pre-pandemic (1997-2019) and pandemic (2020-2022) periods. In the pre-pandemic period, 7246 children with newly diagnosed T1D were compared with 1490 children diagnosed during the pandemic period. Results: T1D incidence significantly increased in the 0-17 age group from a mean of 12.9/105 (pre-pandemic) to 17.7/105 and 16.7/105 during the first two years of the pandemic (2020 and 2021, respectively) (p = 0.0001). Stratifying by age group (0-4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-17) revealed a significant increase in the 5-9, 10-14, and 15-17 groups, both in 2020 (p = 0.0001) and in 2021 (p = 0.0001). The incidence rate in the 0-4 age group showed no change in the first year of the pandemic (2020) (p = 0.4). However, in the second year of the pandemic (2021), there was a significant increase from 6.3/105 in the pre-pandemic period to 9.1/105 (p = 0.001). Anti-COVID-19 vaccination in 2022 led to a significant decrease in the incidence rates in the 10-14 and 15-17 age groups (p = 0.03 and p = 0.02, respectively). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant increase in the incidence of new-onset T1D in prepubertal and pubertal children. Anti-COVID-19 vaccination decreased the incidence rate significantly only in pubertal children.

Incidence of type 2 diabetes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Naples, Italy: a longitudinal cohort study

Background

The association of COVID-19 with the development of new-onset diabetes has been recently investigated by several groups, yielding controversial results. Population studies currently available in the literature are mostly focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D), comparing patients with a SARS-CoV-2 positive test to individuals without COVID-19, especially in paediatric populations. In this study, we sought to determine the incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

In this longitudinal cohort study, we analysed a cohort followed up over a 6-year period using an Interrupted Time Series approach, i.e. 3-years before and 3-years during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analysed data obtained from >200,000 adults in Naples (Italy) from January 1st 2017 to December 31st 2022. In this manner, we had the opportunity to compare the incidence of newly diagnosed T2D before (2017-2019) and during (2020-2022) the COVID-19 pandemic. The key inclusion criteria were age >18-year-old and data availability for the period of observation; patients with a diagnosis of diabetes obtained before 2017 were excluded. The main outcome of the study was the new diagnosis of T2D, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD-X), including prescription of antidiabetic therapies for more than 30 days.

Findings

A total of 234,956 subjects were followed-up for at least 3-years before or 3-years during the COVID-19 pandemic and were included in the study; among these, 216,498 were analysed in the pre-pandemic years and 216,422 in the pandemic years. The incidence rate of T2D was 4.85 (95% CI, 4.68-5.02) per 1000 person-years in the period 2017-2019, vs 12.21 (95% CI, 11.94-12.48) per 1000 person-years in 2020-2022, with an increase of about twice and a half. Moreover, the doubling time of the number of new diagnoses of T2D estimated by unadjusted Poisson model was 97.12 (95% CI, 40.51-153.75) months in the prepandemic period vs 23.13 (95% CI, 16.02-41.59) months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, these findings were also confirmed when examining patients with prediabetes.

Interpretation

Our data from this 6-year study on more than 200,000 adult participants indicate that the incidence of T2D was significantly higher during the pandemic compared to the pre-COVID-19 phase. As a consequence, the epidemiology of the disease may change in terms of rates of outcomes as well as public health costs. COVID-19 survivors, especially patients with prediabetes, may require specific clinical programs to prevent T2D.

Funding

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH: NIDDK, NHLBI, NCATS), Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation, Weill-Caulier and Hirschl Trusts.

Risk of New-onset Type 1 Diabetes in Danish Children and Adolescents After SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Nationwide, Matched Cohort Study

We investigated the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and new-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) in children and adolescents in a nationwide, matched cohort study. The hazard ratio of new-onset T1D within 6 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection was 1.22 (0.58-2.58). The risk of new-onset T1D in children and adolescents was not significantly increased after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Long-term Insulin Requirements in Youths with Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE

SARS-CoV-2 infection increases the risk of diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in both adults and children. We investigated the clinical course of new-onset type 2 diabetes in youth presenting with DKA during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

This single-center retrospective cohort study included 148 subjects with obesity aged 10 to 21 years, admitted with DKA from January 2018 to January 2022. Groups were defined by the presence of DKA precipitant: any infection (n = 38, 26%), which included the SARS-CoV-2 (n = 10, 7%) and other infection (n = 28, 19%) groups, and no infection (n = 110, 74%). The primary outcome was insulin discontinuation within a 12-month follow-up.

RESULTS

The mean age was 14.9 years (IQR, 13.8-16.5), and age-adjusted body mass index (%) was 99.1 (IQR, 98.0-99.5) with 85.8% identifying as Black or Hispanic. There were no differences in DKA severity among groups. The incidence of DKA was higher during the pandemic (March 2020-January 2022, n = 117) than in the prepandemic period (January 2018-February 2020, n = 31). Within the first year after the acute DKA episode, 46 patients discontinued all insulin within 9 months (IQR, 4-14). Sixteen subjects restarted insulin 10 months (IQR, 6.5-11.0) after insulin discontinuation. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 at diagnosis was not associated with the likelihood (P =.57) or timing (P =.27) of discontinuing all insulin within 1 year, nor was having any infection.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of DKA at the onset of type 2 diabetes was higher during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic than in the prepandemic period. SARS-CoV-2 infection was not associated with DKA severity or insulin discontinuation within the first year of diagnosis in youth with new-onset type 2 diabetes and DKA.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Development of Islet Autoimmunity in Early Childhood

Importance

The incidence of diabetes in childhood has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Elucidating whether SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with islet autoimmunity, which precedes type 1 diabetes onset, is relevant to disease etiology and future childhood diabetes trends.

Objective

To determine whether there is a temporal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of islet autoimmunity in early childhood.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Between February 2018 and March 2021, the Primary Oral Insulin Trial, a European multicenter study, enrolled 1050 infants (517 girls) aged 4 to 7 months with a more than 10% genetically defined risk of type 1 diabetes. Children were followed up through September 2022.

Exposure

SARS-CoV-2 infection identified by SARS-CoV-2 antibody development in follow-up visits conducted at 2- to 6-month intervals until age 2 years from April 2018 through June 2022.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The development of multiple (≥2) islet autoantibodies in follow-up in consecutive samples or single islet antibodies and type 1 diabetes. Antibody incidence rates and risk of developing islet autoantibodies were analyzed.

Results

Consent was obtained for 885 (441 girls) children who were included in follow-up antibody measurements from age 6 months. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies developed in 170 children at a median age of 18 months (range, 6-25 months). Islet autoantibodies developed in 60 children. Six of these children tested positive for islet autoantibodies at the same time as they tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and 6 at the visit after having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The sex-, age-, and country-adjusted hazard ratio for developing islet autoantibodies when the children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 3.5 (95% CI, 1.6-7.7; P = .002). The incidence rate of islet autoantibodies was 3.5 (95% CI, 2.2-5.1) per 100 person-years in children without SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and 7.8 (95% CI, 5.3-19.0) per 100 person-years in children with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (P = .02). Islet autoantibody risk in children with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was associated with younger age (<18 months) of SARS-CoV-2 antibody development (HR, 5.3; 95% CI, 1.5-18.3; P = .009).

Conclusion and relevance

In young children with high genetic risk of type 1 diabetes, SARS-CoV-2 infection was temporally associated with the development of islet autoantibodies.