Pancreas Volume Predicts Progression to Stage 3 Type 1 Diabetes

THURSDAY, Feb. 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Measures of pancreas volume and metabolism can predict progression to stage 3 type 1 diabetes, according to a study published online Dec. 27 in Diabetes Care.

John Virostko, Ph.D., from the University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues conducted a multicenter prospective cohort study to compare pancreas volume as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, metabolic scores derived from oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT), and a combination of pancreas volume and metabolic scores for predicting progression to stage 3 type 1 diabetes in 65 multiple diabetes-related, autoantibody-positive participants. The pancreas volume index (PVI), OGTT-derived Index60 score, Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1 Risk Score (DPTRS), and a combination of PVI and DPTRS were used to assess progression to stage 3 type 1 diabetes.

The researchers found that in the 11 individuals who subsequently experienced progression to stage 3 type 1 diabetes, the PVI, Index60, and DPTRS were all significantly different at study entry compared with the 54 participants who did not experience progression. Across individual study participants, there was no correlation for PVI with metabolic testing. In the 11 individuals diagnosed with stage 3 type 1 diabetes, PVI declined longitudinally, while Index60 and DPTRS increased. For predicting progression to stage 3 from measurements at study entry, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.76 for PVI, 0.79 for Index60, 0.79 for DPTRS, and 0.91 for PVI plus DPTRS.

"Pancreas imaging may be useful for informing clinical trials aimed at type 1 diabetes prevention," the authors write.

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