Covid-19 Infection and New Onset Type 1 Diabetes

Although recognized as an autoimmune disease the etiology of type 1 diabetes remains unknown. Virus infections has been suggested as a possible agent triggering the autoimmune reaction finally resulting in beta-cell destruction and fate of insulin secretion. SARS Cov-2 virus enters the infected cells by binding to the ACE-2 receptor, which is abundant in many tissues including the pancreas. Accordingly, SARS Covid-19 infection may trigger the development of type 1 diabetes either by an activation of the immune system or directly via beta-cell infection and destruction. Our aim is to study the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on the development of type 1 diabetes. This will be done in two ways: a clinical study and an epidemiological follow up. During the next two years, adult patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes will be asked to participate. Type 1 diabetes will be diagnosed by usual means and a mixed meal tolerance test will be performed at time of diagnosis and after one year to evaluate beta-cell function. People with type 1 diabetes and serologically documented previous SARS Covid-19 will be compared with people with no previous infection regarding beta-cell function and fate of insulin secretion. In addition, we will estimate the number of new diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients compared to previous years.