The Cardiovascular Repository for Type 1 Diabetes (CaRe-T1D): An NIDDK Initiative to Advance Understanding of...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in individuals with diabetes. Individuals with type 1 diabetes have a two- to fourfold higher risk of CVD in comparison with the general population, driven by an earlier onset and increased lifetime incidence of CVD events and mortality. Similarly, type 2 diabetes confers two- to threefold increased CVD risk, usually alongside metabolic syndrome, obesity, and hypertension. Despite advancements in methods for achieving glycemic control, the CVD burden remains disproportionately high in diabetes. The mechanisms driving elevated risk are complex and variably multifactorial, involving hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, inflammation, and a hypercoagulable state. Unfortunately, critical gaps in understanding persist on how these factors interact to promote CVD in type 1 versus type 2 diabetes, particularly across disease stages and age. Addressing these knowledge gaps is essential to developing targeted therapies that can effectively mitigate CVD risk. To meet this need, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, in partnership with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, recently formed the Cardiovascular Repository for Type 1 Diabetes (CaRe-T1D) program. Its mission is to elucidate the molecular and cellular pathways linking diabetes with CVD through the provision of high-quality human tissues for investigator-led analyses using cutting-edge technologies and collaborative data sharing to advance precision medicine and reduce the global burden of diabetes-associated cardiovascular complications.

CaRe-T1D established a biorepository and scientific consortium to advance research on cardiovascular complications in diabetes. The goal is to determine how cardiovascular disease differs in type 1 versus type 2 diabetes. Heart, kidney, carotid and peripheral arteries, and blood from organ donors with type 1 diabetes, with type 2 diabetes, or without diabetes will be distributed to approved investigators to address the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiovascular disease. CaRe-T1D is a resource of human cardiovascular tissue and a database with the results from tissue analysis.