Nasally-administered insulin will not protect children at high risk of developing Type 1 diabetes from the condition, according to researchers from Finland.

A study by staff at the University of Turku, in the south-west of the country, saw 264 children with an increased genetic risk of the disease who tested positive for two or more autoantibodies associated with diabetes in consecutive blood samples.

Nasally-administered insulin was given to 137 children for a median of 1.8 years, while 127 received a placebo.

A total of 56 children in the insulin group eventually developed the condition, in comparison to 53 in the placebo condition, the Washington Post reports.

Drs Kirsti Nanto-Salonen and Olli Simell from the academic institution said: "Administration of nasal insulin did not delay or prevent Type 1 diabetes in children with genetically conferred risk of disease, even when started soon after antibodies to the condition were detected."

The study is expected to be printed in an upcoming edition of the Lancet after being published online.

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