TEDDY - The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young

Active, not recruiting

• Conditions: Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

• Registration Number: NCT00279318
• Lead Sponsor: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Brief Summary

The long-term goal of the TEDDY study is the identification of infectious agents, dietary factors, or other environmental agents, including psychosocial factors which trigger T1DM in genetically susceptible individuals or which protect against the disease. Identification of such factors will lead to a better understanding of disease pathogenesis and result in new strategies to prevent, delay or reverse T1DM.

Detailed Description

Epidemiologic patterns suggest that viruses, nutrition, toxic agents or socioeconomic psychosocial factors may contribute to the etiology alone or in combination. Elucidation is confounded by the long interval between exposure and onset of clinical disease, as well as the interaction of multiple genes and/or insults, which appear to interact in a complex manner. Numerous studies have investigated environmental influences but have yielded conflicting results. This may be in part due to the failure to account for genetic susceptibility, begin observation at early ages or in utero, and/or monitor subjects long term and frequently.

Hypotheses:

1. Initiation of persistent beta-cell autoimmunity and progression from beta-cell autoimmunity to diabetes is increased with:

1. Exposure to a trigger factor during pregnancy, such as infections, preeclampsia, blood incompatibility, or birth weight.

2. Differences in the timing of the introduction and/or the type of dietary constituents that include exposure to cereals or gluten, exposure to cow's milk during infancy and/or childhood, and short duration of breast- feeding;

3. Lower intake of serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D in early infancy, vitamin E, anti-oxidants (e.g., carotenoids, ascorbic acid, selenium, or omega-3 fatty acids);

4. Higher frequency of specific (e.g., enterovirus, rotavirus, or bacterial) infections, or non-specific childhood infections including those that exhibit molecular mimicry;

5. Increased exposure to routine childhood immunizations and their timing;

6. Environmental factors that may be contained in drinking water (e.g., low concentrations of zinc or high concentrations of nitrates, or lower pH levels);

7. Exposure to household pets, and various allergies;

8. Excessive weight gain;

9. Increased psychological stress.

2. The risk of persistent beta-cell autoimmunity is lower in children from the general population than in offspring or siblings of T1DM patients when stratifying for the HLA DR-DQ genotype and exposure to environmental triggers.

3. The interaction of HLA DR-DQ genotype with exposure to dietary or infectious factors leads to increased incidence of beta-cell autoimmunity and T1DM.

4. We expect that in some families study participation will be associated with affective (anxiety, depression) and behavioral responses (e.g. actions to prevent possible T1DM).

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2004-09-01
• Study First Submitted: 2006-01-17
• Study First Submitted QC: 2006-01-17
• Study First Posted: 2006-01-19
• Status Verified: 2024-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-11-21
• Last Update Posted: 2024-11-25
• Primary Completion: 2025-09
• Study Completion: 2025-09

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 8667

Inclusion Criteria

• Newborns with high risk HLA in the general population or having a first- degree relative affected with T1DM
• Newborns are less than 4 months of age

Exclusion Criteria

• Have an illness or birth defect that precludes long-term follow-up or involves use of treatment that may alter the natural history of diabetes (e.g. steroids or insulin)
• Refuses to have blood and stool samples stored at the NIDDK Repository

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Appearance of one or more islet cell autoantibodies: GADA, IAA, or IA-2A confirmed at two consecutive visits.	September 2025

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Development of T1DM	September 2025

Trial Locations

Locations (6)

Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland; 🇫🇮 Turku, Finland

University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; 🇺🇸 Denver, Colorado, United States

Augusta University; 🇺🇸 Augusta, Georgia, United States

Pacific Northwest Research Institute; 🇺🇸 Seattle, Washington, United States

Diabetes Research Institute; 🇩🇪 Munich, Germany

Lund University; 🇸🇪 Malmo, Sweden