DiaUnion has published its first status report covering January 2020 – December 2021. The project is progressing according to plan, and here are some highlights:
Autoantibody screening of children from the general population (Sweden) Consent from 1825 out of 2000 planned participants has been received. 850 samples have been analyzed for T1D, CD and AIT autoantibodies and 123 (14.5%) were positive for at least one autoantibody. 65 of those (7.6%) were positive for more than one autoantibody.
Autoantibody screening of children from established school children cohorts (Denmark) Is lagging behind due to extensive delays in the Danish ethical approval system as a result of the Covid-19 situation. 1700 samples have been identified and will be screened and analyzed for autoantibodies at Lund University Clinical Research Center Malmø.
Validation of multiplex assays against radiobinding assays for autoantibody screening The ADAP technology has been expanded from 5-plex (IAA, GADA, IA-2A, ZnT8A and tTGA) to 6-plex (TPOAb added to the previous five autoantibodies). The 6-plex fulfills the criteria for efficient screening in DiaUnion study. Lately, it has also been possible also to add assays for SARS-CoV-2 Spike 1 and Nucleocapsid Phosphoprotein virus antibodies in a 8-plex ADAP design.
Genetic screening of both cohorts Plasma (n= 1422) and DNA (n=1746) have been prepared from the Danish cohort and genotyping will be performed once the Swedish autoantibody screening has been completed.
Identifying novel biomarkers for type 1 diabetes Analysis is ongoing.
Interactions between minor type 1 diabetes autoantibodies and their influence on disease development We have investigated the interactions of minor T1D autoantibodies (NPYA and VAMP2A) and their influence on disease onset, development of diabetic ketoacidosis, the effect on the remission phase, acute T1D complications, regulation of HbA1c and long standing T1D.
Read the full report here.
