Type 1 Diabetes: Disease Stratification

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes, a disorder characterized by immune-mediated loss of functional pancreatic beta cells, is a disease continuum with specific presymptomatic stages with defined risk of progression to symptomatic disease. Prognostic biomarkers have been developed for disease staging and for stratification of subjects that address the heterogeneity in rate of disease progression. Using biomarkers for stratification of subjects at different stages of type 1 diabetes will enable smaller and shorter intervention clinical trials with greater effect size. Addressing the heterogeneity of the disease will allow precision medicine-based approaches to prevention and interception of presymptomatic stages of disease and treatment and cure of symptomatic disease.