P Tatti1, G Tonolo2, A Zanfardino3, D Iafusco3. 1. Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Ist INI, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: info@patriziotatti.it. 2. UOC Diabetologia, ASL2, Olbia, Italy. 3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Campania, Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy.
We read with great interest the paper from Pitocco et al. [1], that raises the point of the remarkable absence of clinical CoV infection in the type 1 diabetic population. The Authors suggest a search of such cases in subjects with type 1 diabetes, who represent a high risk population. We recently published a paper on this topic in in the Journal of Medical Hypotheses [2]. One of the CoAuthors, who is in charge of a large Diabetes Centre in Sardinia, has made a search in this area, one of the three with the highest incidence of Type 1 diabetes in the world, and has not found cases of clinical CoVid-19 infection. The same is true in other areas of Italy, Lazio and Campania where the other Authors work. We have not found cases also within the adult type 1 population, which makes unlikely the idea that “the young age” may have a role in the immunity of these subjects. Furthermore all type 1 diabetic subjects share a common genetic background. The suggestion of the Authors [1] that the early application of the common protective measures to Type 1 population may have safeguarded them, is equally unlikely because, as recently proven, the virus was present well before the closure of the flights from China [3], at least on Dec 1, 2019. This lack of alternative explanations is consistent with our hypothesis, that the absence of clinical manifestations of CoV infection is, at least in part, due to some genetically determined characteristics of their TH1 immunity. The TH1 immunity is one of the determinants of the Beta cell destruction but, in virtue of its effectiveness against virus, may be among the protective body machinery against the CoV-19 virus.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Authors: Alessandro Sticchi; Alberto Cereda; Marco Toselli; Antonio Esposito; Anna Palmisano; Davide Vignale; Valeria Nicoletti; Riccardo Leone; Chiara Gnasso; Alberto Monello; Arif A Khokhar; Alessandra Laricchia; Andrea Biagi; Piergiorgio Turchio; Marcello Petrini; Guglielmo Gallone; Francesco De Cobelli; Francesco Ponticelli; Gianni Casella; Gianmarco Iannopollo; Tommaso Nannini; Carlo Tacchetti; Antonio Colombo; Francesco Giannini Journal: Anatol J Cardiol Date: 2021-06 Impact factor: 1.596