Can Type 1 diabetes progression be halted? Possible role of high dose vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids

In Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in children, close to the onset the requirements of insulin are often reduced. This represents a transient recovery of endogenous insulin secretion named "honeymoon" because transient and followed by a progressive decline in C-peptide secretion. This case report describes the effect of administration of high dose vitamin D and \u3a9-3 fatty acids on T1D progression in a 8-year-old child. At today after one year and a half from the onset of T1D, the subject shows a near-normal blood glucose with the administration of 1.5-2 UI of insulin once a day. Thus this report may be of assistance to design additional studies to determine and validate the effect of administration of vitamin D and \u3a9-3 fatty acids on the progression of T1D

Defective Function of the Fas Apoptotic Pathway in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Correlates with Age at Onset

The Fas death receptor triggers lymphocyte apoptosis through an extrinsic and an intrinsic pathway involving caspase-8 and -9 respectively. Inherited defects of Fas function are displayed by a proportion of patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) especially those with a second autoimmunity (T1DM-p). This study assesses activation of both pathways in Fas-resistant (FasR) patients to localize the defect. 21/28 (75%) T1DM-p, 14/50 (38%) T1DM, and 7/150 (5%) controls were FasR. Analysis of the 35 FasR patients and 20 Fas-sensitive (FasS) controls showed that caspase-9 activity was lower in T1DM-p and T1DM than in controls, whereas caspase-8 activity was lower in T1DM-p than in T1DM and the controls. Single patient analysis showed that 16/35 patients displayed defective activity of one (FasR1), whereas 19 displayed normal activity of both caspases (FasR2) Ages at onset of diabetes mellitus in T1DM and the second autoimmune disease in T1DM-p were lower in FasR than in FasS patients. All FasR1 patients developed diabetes mellitus before the age of 9 years, whereas a later onset was displayed by 26% FasR2 and 53% FasS patients. These data show that defective Fas function may involve both the extrinsic and intrinsic pathway in T1DM and severity correlates with the precocity of the autoimmune attack and its tissue polyreactivity

Vitamin D status and type 1 diabetes in children: evaluation according to latitude and skin color

We aim to investigate vitamin D (25OHD) levels in children with or without type 1 diabetes (T1D) according to latitude and skin color

Obestatin levels are associated with C-peptide and anti-insulin antibodies at the onset whereas unacylated and acylated ghrelin levels are not predictive of long-term metabolic control in children with type 1 diabetes.

Context and objective: Ghrelin secretion is altered at the onset and after the start of insulin therapy in children with type 1 diabetes. Contemporary regulation of acylated (AG), unacylated ghrelin (UAG) and obestatin (OBST) remains undefined in this disease. It is unknown as to whether they could be good predictors of changes in glucose and metabolic control. Design, setting and subjects: A longitudinal study in a tertiary care center. AG, UAG and OBST were measured at baseline and after 2 years of follow-up in 51 children and adolescents with a history of type 1 diabetes extending beyond 1 year. A total of 33 healthy matched subjects were used as controls. Results: Age, puberty and BMI adjusted UAG levels were lower (p<0.005) and OBST levels were higher (p<0.009) in children with type 1 diabetes, with respect to controls. AG levels were similar to controls, but all ratios of three peptides are altered in diabetic patients. OBST (p<0.05) was negatively correlated with C-peptide (p<0.05) and IAA (p<0.008) at the onset of diabetes. In diabetic patients, baseline AG and UAG levels were negatively correlated with insulin dosage in the short- and long-term (p<0.001). AG, but not OBST, was positively correlated with C-peptide levels 2 years after diagnosis (p<0.05). Overall, the peptides were not predictive of glucose and metabolic control. Conclusions: UAG, AG, OBST and their ratios are differently regulated in children with type 1 diabetes suggesting a role in the metabolic balance of the disease, with insulin a likely regulator of AG and UAG. The peptides do not appear to be good long-term predictors of glucose control, with further investigations needed to explain if OBST could be a precocious predictor of islet dysfunction