Viral infections may trigger islet autoimmunity leading to type 1 diabetes (T1D) . We hypothesized SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with presence of islet autoantibodies (IAb) in children. Between 8/2020 and 12/2021, ASK screened 47general population Colorado children aged 1-17 y for IAb to GAD, insulin, IA-2 and ZnT8 as well as antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (CoV-2 RBDAb) - a sensitive and specific marker of infection. Of those, 4172 (89%) have not previously received SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. During the study period, prevalence of CoV-2 RBDAb increased in unvaccinated from 1% to 58% and up to 100% among vaccinated. Among all children, the prevalence increased from 1% to 72% - an estimate of herd immunity (Figure) . Among the unvaccinated, prevalence of multiple or single high-affinity IAb did not differ between children positive vs. negative for CoV-2 RBDAb, respectively 1.23% (16/1297) vs. 1.00% (29/2875) , p=0.52. In multivariate logistic regression, presence of IAb was not associated with presence of CoV-2 RBDAb (OR=1.40, p=0.31) , adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and family history of T1D. While we found no association between past SARS-CoV-2 infection and islet autoimmunity, a confirmation in a larger population is warranted. Longer follow-up will help assess whether SARS-CoV2 infection accelerates progression from islet autoimmunity to diabetes.
C.Geno rasmussen: None. X.Jia: None. H.Shorrosh: None. L.Yu: None. B.I.Frohnert: Advisory Panel; Provention Bio, Inc. K.M.Simmons: Advisory Panel; Provention Bio, Inc., Consultant; Dexcom, Inc. A.Steck: None. L.Pyle: None. M.Rewers: Consultant; Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Medscape, Provention Bio, Inc., Research Support; Dexcom, Inc., JDRF, Roche Diagnostics USA.
JDRF 2-SRA-2021-1065-M-N
