Why study the T1D remission phase in the pediatric population?

Childhood-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a severe disease, not only in terms of disabling late complications leading to shortened life expectancy but also in terms of the heavy burden on the patients and their families due to an extremely demanding therapy. The etiology of T1D is, in spite of intensive biochemical, immunological, epidemiological, and clinical research during the last 100 years, still unknown. T1D seems to be a result of a complex interplay between genetic predisposition, the immune system, and environmental factors1,2 causing attrition and death of the insulin-producing pancreatic β cells, resulting in a life-long requirement for exogenous insulin. The progressive loss of β cells is mainly caused by autoimmune inflammation.