COVID-19 Not Likely to Trigger Type 1 Diabetes, UF Health Researchers Find in Joint Study

A protein thought to be the novel coronavirus’ entryway into the body could not be detected in the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas in three dozen individuals, the strongest evidence yet that COVID-19 is unlikely to trigger or worsen Type 1 diabetes, according to a new study co-authored by University of Florida researchers.

The study, involving the UF Diabetes Institute, is not yet peer-reviewed, and its scientists caution that more research is required to understand how the coronavirus might impact insulin-producing beta cells.

Even so, senior author Mark Atkinson, Ph.D., director of the UF Diabetes Institute, believes the work poses a serious challenge to the argument of a causal relationship between COVID-19 and diabetes.

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