Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34596880›Full record

ArticleDiabetes therapy : research, treatment and education of diabetes and related disorders2021

The Role of Pediatric BCG Vaccine in Type 1 Diabetes Onset.

John Doupis, Konstantinos Kolokathis, Eftychia Markopoulou, Vasiliki Efthymiou, George Festas, Vasiliki Papandreopoulou, Chrysoula Kallinikou, Despina Antikidou, Golfo Gemistou, Theodoros Angelopoulos

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Diabetes therapy : research, treatment and education of diabetes and related disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Pathogenesis: Mechanisms, Early Diagnostic Strategies, and Emerging Therapeutic Approaches.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Vaccines · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Observational
  10. Prevention of Type 1 Diabetes: Current Perspective.Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

John DoupisInternal Medicine and Diabetes Department, Salamis Naval and Veterans Hospital, Salamis, Greece. john.doupis@harvard-alumni.org.
Konstantinos KolokathisIatriko Paleou Falirou Medical Center, Diabetes Clinic, Athens, Greece.
Eftychia MarkopoulouInternal Medicine and Diabetes Department, Salamis Naval and Veterans Hospital, Salamis, Greece.
Vasiliki EfthymiouUniversity Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health and Precision Medicine, and UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, 'Aghia Sophia' Children's Hospital, 11527, Athens, Greece.
George FestasInternal Medicine and Diabetes Department, Salamis Naval and Veterans Hospital, Salamis, Greece.
Vasiliki PapandreopoulouIatriko Paleou Falirou Medical Center, Diabetes Clinic, Athens, Greece.
Chrysoula KallinikouIatriko Paleou Falirou Medical Center, Diabetes Clinic, Athens, Greece.
Despina AntikidouIatriko Paleou Falirou Medical Center, Diabetes Clinic, Athens, Greece.
Golfo GemistouPan-Hellenic Federation of People with Diabetes, Athens, Greece.
Theodoros AngelopoulosIatriko Paleou Falirou Medical Center, Diabetes Clinic, Athens, Greece.
Athens Medical Center · GRAthens Naval & Veterans Hospital · GRHellenic Society of Hypertension · GRNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionBacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination has shown promising therapeutic effects for type 1 diabetes (T1D). According to recent studies, immunometabolism modification and regulation of T lymphocytes constitute the proposed mechanisms by which BCG vaccination may delay T1D onset. Clinical trial evidence from Turkey supports that two to three doses of the BCG vaccine in childhood, with the first dose administered in the first year of life, may prevent T1D. In the same study, one or zero vaccinations appeared to have no effect in T1D onset prevention. In Greece, the BCG vaccine was administered in a single dose at the age of 9 years in elementary school. BCG vaccination was not performed on a mandatory basis, creating one BCG vaccinated and one non-vaccinated population. The aim of our study was to investigate the possible effect of a single dose of BCG vaccine, at the age of 9 years, on the time of T1D onset, in a population of BCG vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients with diagnosed T1D.

methodsTo test this hypothesis, a survey through the Pan-Hellenic Federation of People with Diabetes (PFPD) was performed. In this observational, retrospective study, participating patients provided information regarding age, gender, time of diagnosis, and BCG vaccination status. Patients diagnosed with T1D before the age of 9 years were excluded from the analysis.

resultsThe final sample included 196 patients (73 male and 123 female) with a mean age of 42.2 ± 14.3 years and a mean duration of diabetes of 16.8 ± 12.9 years. Mean age of T1D diagnosis in the BCG vaccinated group was 24.0 ± 19.0 years, while the mean age of T1D diagnosis in the BCG non-vaccinated group was 21.5 ± 14.3 years (p = 0.03). No interaction was found between gender and the age of diagnosis for BCG vaccinated and unvaccinated patients (p = 0.86).

conclusionThe results of our study suggest that a single dose of BCG vaccine, performed at the age of 9 years, may delay the onset of T1D by 2.5 years. Additional studies of children receiving multiple doses of BCG should be conducted to possibly prove prolongation of the disease-free interval.

Indexed as

BCG vaccineDiabetesHygiene hypothesisImmunometabolismType 1 diabetes

Identifiers

PMID34596880
PMCPMC8519972
OpenAlexW3204753350

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.