Information about TrialNet

Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet is an international research group studying how Type 1 diabetes develops and how it might be prevented or delayed. Scientists now understand that type 1 diabetes does not appear suddenly. Instead, it is a long-term autoimmune disease where the immune system slowly destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas years before symptoms appear. Researchers discovered that people can have warning signs called islet autoantibodies in their blood long before they develop diabetes. TrialNet studies have screened more than 250,000 relatives of people with type 1 diabetes to identify individuals at high risk. Scientists also developed a staging system for the disease: Stage 1: Multiple autoantibodies but normal blood sugar; Stage 2: Autoantibodies plus abnormal blood sugar; Stage 3: Clinical diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. TrialNet conducts studies to track how the disease progresses and to test treatments that may slow or stop it. Researchers measure factors such as blood sugar levels, insulin production, and immune system activity to predict when diabetes might develop. Many treatments have been tested. Some drugs that affect the immune system showed some ability to slow the loss of insulin-producing cells, but the effects were often temporary. Other approaches, like oral insulin or vaccines targeting specific diabetes-related proteins, did not prevent the disease. A major breakthrough came with the drug teplizumab. In a clinical trial, a short treatment course significantly delayed the development of type 1 diabetes in people at high risk. Since 2022, teplizumab was approved as the first drug to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes. Future research will focus on combining therapies, identifying which patients respond best to certain treatments, and increasing participation from diverse populations. Scientists hope that screening programs and new therapies will eventually allow doctors to prevent or significantly delay type 1 diabetes. If you have a family member who wants to be tested for autoantibodies to see if they are at risk for T1D they can register with TrialNet www.trialnet.org.