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What is TRIGR about? TRIGR stands for Trial to Reduce the Incidence of type 1 diabetes in the Genetically at Risk. It is a research study that aims to find out if there is a connection between diet in infancy and the development of childhood diabetes and whether modifying the infants diet can prevent or reduce the incidence of diabetes in children shown to be genetically at risk. TRIGR is the first multinational primary prevention trial that will assess the relationship of formula consumption to the likelihood of development of type 1 diabetes. The rationale for TRIGR began with observational studies that showed that breastfeeding was associated with somewhat lower rates of children developing type 1 diabetes. These studies first appeared in the mid-80’s. At virtually the same time, basic research began focusing on the role of cow’s milk proteins in diabetes in animals. The reason to focus on cow’s milk was motivated by the fact that cow’s milk based infant formula is the first foreign, intact, food protein most commonly encountered by babies. Recently, studies have focused on hydrolysed formulas – those in which a chemical reaction was used to break down the milk proteins into smaller components. Decreased rates of type 1 diabetes development were found in animals weaned to hydrolysed proteins instead of intact foreign proteins. Some evidence is now available suggesting that a similar relationship may exist in humans, but further research is needed.
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