Partial Clinical Remission of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Children: Clinical Applications and Challenges with its Definitions

Abstract

The honeymoon phase, or partial clinical remission (PCR) phase, of Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a transitory period that is marked by endogenous insulin production by surviving β cells following a diabetes diagnosis and the introduction of insulin therapy. It is a critical window in the course of the disease that has short and long-term implications for the patient, such as a significant reduction in the risk of long-term complications of T1DM. To promote long-term cardiovascular health in children with newly diagnosed T1DM, three key steps are necessary: the generation of a predictive model for non-remission, the adoption of a user-friendly monitoring tool for remission and non-remission, and the establishment of the magnitude of the early-phase cardiovascular disease risk in these children in objective terms through changes in lipid profile. However, only about 50% of children diagnosed with T1DM experience the honeymoon phase. Accurate and prompt detection of the honeymoon phase has been hampered by the lack of an objective and easily applicable predictive model for its detection at the time of T1DM diagnosis, the complex formulas needed to confirm and monitor PCR, and the absence of a straightforward, user-friendly tool for monitoring PCR. This literature review discusses the most up-to-date information in this field by describing an objective predictive model for non-remission, an easy tool for monitoring remission or non-remission, and objective evidence for the cardiovascular protective effect of PCR in the early phase of the disease. The goal is to present non-remission as an independent clinical entity with significantly poorer long-term prognosis than partial remission.