Da. Schatz et al., PREVENTION OF INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS - AN OVERVIEW OF 3 TRIALS, Cleveland Clinic journal of medicine, 63(5), 1996, pp. 270-274
Genetic, immune, and metabolic testing can reveal a person's risk of d
eveloping insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), and three large
clinical trials are planned or underway to see if interventions can pr
event IDDM in persons at risk. KEY POINTS Researchers in diabetes prev
ention trials are screening first- and second-degree relatives of prob
ands with IDDM for islet-cell antibodies. In the Cow's Milk Avoidance
Trial, infant siblings of probands with IDDM will be randomized to rec
eive either a baby formula containing a non-antigenic protein hydrolyz
ate or a standard cow's milk-based formula. The Diabetes Prevention Tr
ial-Type I is randomly assigning subjects at high risk (more than a 50
% probability of developing IDDM) to either receive insulin injections
or undergo observation alone; subjects at intermediate risk (25% to 5
0%) will receive either oral insulin or placebo. In the European Nicot
inamide Diabetes Intervention Trial, subjects receive either nicotinam
ide or placebo. If any of these trials show that IDDM can be prevented
, then large-scale screening of children for IDDM risk factors may pro
ve beneficial.