US Patterns in Clinical Islet Autoantibody Ordering and Results Show Key Differences After Teplizumab Regulatory...

Recent advances in disease-modifying therapies have increased emphasis on islet autoantibody screening to detect type 1 diabetes prior to clinical onset.

Test impacts of teplizumab approval on real-world US autoantibody ordering patterns.

Testing for biochemical and islet cytoplasmic autoantibodies in 28,206 nondiabetic individuals (HbA1c<6.5%) before ("PRE", November 2017-November 2018) versus after ("POST", November 2022-November 2023) teplizumab approval was analyzed. Results were stratified by age (<20 vs ≥20 years) and glycemia (normoglycemic versus dysglycemic).

Islet autoantibody testing increased 1.9-fold from the PRE to POST period (p<0.0001 versus other testing), especially in adults and dysglycemic children. Overall testing was more common in adults, and tested adults were more commonly dysglycemic than children. In the POST period, providers were more likely to order 3/4 or 4/4 available biochemical antibodies. For both periods most orders in normoglycemic individuals came from primary care providers, while endocrinologists ordered most testing in dysglycemic groups. Provider-level testing was typically low volume in both periods, with providers ordering 1-3 tests/year accounting for >80% of orders. Among dysglycemic children, multiple antibody positivity in the POST period was 35.6% higher than expected compared to the PRE period (p=0.0003).

Islet autoantibody testing in nondiabetic individuals increased following teplizumab approval, primarily among adults and dysglycemic children, suggesting that these groups allow for the easiest implementation of screening through clinical care. Despite shifts toward guideline-concordant testing, screening of normoglycemic children by primary care providers remains limited, highlighting the need to further integrate this testing into clinical care pathways.