Screening for Type 1 Diabetes Risk in Newborns: The Freder1k Pilot Study in Saxony

An increased risk for type 1 diabetes can be identified using genetic and immune markers. The Freder1k study introduces genetic testing for type 1 diabetes risk within the context of the newborn screening in order to identify newborns with a high risk to develop type 1 diabetes for follow-up testing of early stage type 1 diabetes and for primary prevention trials. Consent for research-based genetic testing of type 1 diabetes risk is obtained with newborn screening. Increased risk is assessed using three single nucleotide polymorphisms for HLA DRB1*03 (DR3), HLA DRB1*04 (DR4), HLA DQB1*0302 (DQ8) alleles, and defined as 1. an HLA DR3/DR4-DQ8 or DR4-DQ8/DR4-DQ8 genotype or 2. an HLA DR4-DQ8 haplotype and a first-degree family history of type 1 diabetes. Families of infants with increased risk are asked to participate in follow-up visits at infant age 6 months, 2 years, and 4 years for autoantibody testing and early diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. After 8 months, the screening rate has reached 181 per week, with 63% coverage of newborns within Freder1k-clinics and 24% of all registered births in Saxony. Of 4178 screened, 2.6% were identified to have an increased risk, and around 80% of eligible infants were recruited to follow-up. Psychological assessment of eligible families is ongoing with none of 31 families demonstrating signs of excessive burden associated with knowledge of type 1 diabetes risk. This pilot study has shown that it is feasible to perform genetic risk testing for childhood disease within the context of newborn screening programs.