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Biomedical subjects

C Boitard

Publications and source records attributed to C Boitard.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Factors associated with early remission of type I diabetes in children treated with cyclosporine.

To improve criteria for entry into future trials of immunosuppression, we enrolled 40 children with recent-onset Type I insulin-dependent diabetes in a pilot trial of cyclosporine. Twenty-seven patients were able to discontinue insulin therapy 48 +/- 5 days after the start of immunosuppression. At four months, their fasting and postprandial blood glucose concentrations averaged 110 and 160 mg per deciliter (6.1 and 8.9 mmol per liter) with a mean hemoglobin A1c level of 6.15 percent. Seventy-five percent of these patients with early remission still did not need insulin at 12 months, and their glycemic control was similar to that at 4 months. The major differences between the 27 patients with remission and the 13 without remission were the duration of symptoms before diagnosis (26.8 vs. 48.0 days, P less than 0.01), the degree of weight loss (3.2 vs. 10 percent of body weight, P less than 0.001), the initial hemoglobin A1c level (10.7 vs. 13.2 percent, P less than 0.001), and the frequency of ketoacidosis (11 vs. 61.5 percent, P less than 0.001). The lesser degree of weight loss was the strongest independent predictor of remission. The response of C-peptide to intravenous glucagon (0.50 vs. 0.17 pmol per milliliter, P less than 0.05) was also an independent predictor. No differences were observed between the two groups of patients in age, sex, HLA phenotype, autoantibodies to insulin or islet-cell antigens, or doses or trough levels of cyclosporine. Only minimal manifestations of toxicity were detected over the period of observation. We conclude that early treatment with cyclosporine in children with recent-onset Type I diabetes can induce remission from insulin dependence, with half the patients not requiring insulin after a full year.

Adolescent↗

POEMS syndrome presenting as systemic sclerosis. Clinical and pathologic study of a case with microangiopathic glomerular lesions.

A rare form of plasma cell dyscrasia characterized by the various association of polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal protein, and skin changes has been termed POEMS syndrome. The pathogenesis of the multisystemic features of this syndrome remains unclear. Herein is reported a case of POEMS syndrome with striking clinical similarities with scleroderma, and microangiopathic glomerular lesions, as well as diffuse perivascular non-amyloid deposits, which could explain certain features of the syndrome, including peripheral nerve demyelination. It is proposed that a pathogenic role might be played by a non-immunoglobulin vasculotoxic component.

Adult↗

Prevention of diabetes in nonobese diabetic mice by anti-I-A monoclonal antibodies: transfer of protection by splenic T cells.

The nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse has been developed as a model for insulin-dependent diabetes. One gene required for the development of diabetes is associated with the major histocompatibility complex. This gene possibly could be linked to class II genes, which show a unique pattern in NOD mice. To evaluate the role of the I-A class II antigen expressed in NOD mice, we studied the effect of anti-I-A monoclonal antibodies on disease onset in vivo. Long-term treatment with anti-class II IgG2a antibodies specific for NOD I-A antigen prevented the spontaneous development of diabetes, as opposed to control antibodies shown not to react with NOD I-A antigen. Anti-class II antibodies apparently elicited active immune suppression, requiring a fully immunocompetent host, rather than passive blockade of class II antigen. Treatment with anti-class II antibody effectively prevented the adoptive transfer of diabetes produced by splenocytes from diabetic NOD mice into newborn mice but failed to prevent adoptive transfer into irradiated adult NOD recipients. Direct evidence for the induction of suppressor cells was obtained from the passive transfer of spleen cells from anti-class II antibody-treated NOD donors. The injection of anti-class II antibody-treated spleen cells collected from NOD donors prevented the development of diabetes, which normally follows transfer of diabetogenic spleen cells into irradiated 8-week-old male NOD recipients. Depletion experiments indicate that CD4+ cells are responsible for anti-class II-induced protection transferred by spleen cells.

Animals↗

Follow-up of subjects with isolated and persistent anti-core (anti-p24 or anti-p17) antibodies to HIV.

Systematic screening of blood donations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for HIV antibodies carries a false-positive rate: the sera involved react in Western blot to core antigens (p24 or p17) but reactivity to envelope is absent. We studied 22 subjects with persistent and isolated anti-core reactivities; 75 HIV seropositive patients were controls. The epidemiological data and the follow-up and biological tests performed in these two populations argue that donors with persistent and isolated anti-core antibodies are not seroconverting for HIV. We conclude: (1) that verification of all anti-HIV ELISA-positive sera by Western blot is essential and that the presence of at least once anti-envelope (gp120 or gp41) antibody is indispensable for the diagnosis of HIV infection; (2) that the solitary anti-p24 or anti-p17 bands observed on Western blot are false-positive. There is no evidence that donors with such reactivities are HIV-infected.

Adult↗

Inhibition of insulin release in vitro mediated by mononuclear cells from diabetic patients treated with cyclosporin A or placebo.

Anti-beta-cell-specific cell-mediated immunity was studied over a 12-mo period in 65 recently diagnosed diabetic patients randomly receiving either cyclosporin or placebo. Anti-beta-cell cellular immunity was assessed by an in vitro test based on the inhibition of insulin release from cultured rat islet cells by patients' mononuclear cells. This beta-cell-suppressive effect disappeared in cyclosporin A-treated patients within 1 mo and did not reappear during 12 mo of follow-up. Conversely, the suppressive effect persisted unchanged in placebo-treated patients during 12 mo of follow-up. These changes were predictive neither of cyclosporin A-induced remission nor of relapses. Results of the insulin-release inhibition test were not correlated to islet cell autoantibodies or HLA phenotype.

Adolescent↗

Cell-mediated immunity to pancreatic islet cells in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse: in vitro characterization and time course study.

The non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse is an animal model of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), in which 80% of the females become diabetic after the age of 12 weeks. Using an in vitro assay we investigated the capacity of spleen lymphocytes from NOD mice to inhibit the insulin secretion of normal islet cells after stimulation by theophylline plus arginine. Spleen cells from diabetic NOD mice inhibited the insulin release of DBA/2 islet cells. Depletion experiments using monoclonal antibodies demonstrated that inhibitory cells belonged to the Lyt2 positive T lymphocyte subset. The phenomenon was not restricted by the MHC class I K region, shared by NOD and DBA/2 mice, since lymphocytes from diabetic NOD mice also inhibited the insulin secretion of normal Wistar rat islet cells. Inhibitory T cells were detected in overtly diabetic mice but also in non-diabetic females aged 5-11 weeks indicating that they are not secondary to metabolic disturbances and might contribute to their onset. Conversely they were not found in male NOD mice although some of these mice show insulitis. The presence of these inhibitory T cells might thus represent an early and sensitive marker of anti-islet cell-mediated autoimmunity.

Aging↗

[Effect of cyclosporin A on blood pressure and renal hemodynamics in insulin dependent diabetes].

In 13 patients with very recent onset insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD) (less than 3 months) we studied arterial pressure and renal hemodynamics before (M0) and after 3 months (M3) of treatment with cyclosporine A (5 mg/kg/d). Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and effective renal plasma flow (RPF) were measured by inulin and PAH clearance respectively. Results, expressed as mean +/- SD were compared to those obtained in 8 healthy controls (C). At M0, GFR and filtration fraction were 143 +/- 21 ml/mn.1.73 m2 and 0.22 +/- 0.04 respectively and significantly increased as compared to control values. After 3 months of chronic cyclosporine administration, mean arterial pressure (MAP) significantly increased from 84.7 to 91.8 mmHg whereas GFR and FF significantly decreased to 114 +/- 23 ml/mn.1.73 m2 and 0.18 +/- 0.01 respectively. Renal vascular resistance (RVR) showed a trend toward increase from 658 +/- 161 to 728 +/- 225 MPa.s/L.1.73 m2 whereas natriuresis was unchanged. We concluded: 1) Cyclosporine A significantly increased MAP in patients with IDD; 2) Cyclosporine-induced increase in MAP may be in part related to rise in RVR; 3) In spite of the decrease in GFR, cyclosporine did not seem to induce persistent antinatriuretic effect.

Blood Pressure↗

Syngeneic transfer of autoimmune diabetes from diabetic NOD mice to healthy neonates. Requirement for both L3T4+ and Lyt-2+ T cells.

We have developed a model of syngeneic adoptive transfer for type I diabetes mellitus of NOD mice. This model consists in injecting spleen cells from diabetic adult mice into newborn NOD recipients. 50% of recipients inoculated with 20 X 10(6) cells develop diabetes within the first 10 wk of life, at a time when none of the control littermates have yet become diabetic. The earliest successful transfers are observed at 3 wk of age, at a time when controls do not even exhibit histological changes in their pancreas. In addition we have shown that: (a) both males and females can be adoptively transferred, despite the fact that males rarely develop spontaneous diabetes in our colony; (b) diabetes transfer is a dose-dependent phenomenon that provides an in vivo assay for comparing the autoimmune potential of spleen cells from mice at various stages of their natural history; (c) the susceptibility of the recipients to the transfer is limited in time and declines after 3 wk; and (d) both L3T4+ and Lyt-2+ T cell subsets are necessary for the successful transfer. The neonatal syngeneic transfer provides an effective model for studies of the cellular events involved at regulatory and effector stages of autoimmune type I diabetes.

Animals↗

Nonneoplastic circulating Sézary-like cells in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Ultrastructural, immunologic, and T-cell receptor gene-rearrangement studies.

Approximately 67% of peripheral blood lymphocytes in a case of nonmycosis fungoides-type cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, exhibited Sézary-like changes. Immunotyping showed a helper phenotype with an abnormally faint expression of the T3 membrane antigen, while quantitative electron microscopic study was suggestive of neoplasia. However, T-cell receptor gene study did not show any DNA rearrangement in Ficoll-separated blood lymphocytes, whereas clonal T-cell proliferation was simultaneously evidenced in cutaneous (non-Sézary-like) tumor cells. It is concluded that reactive nonneoplastic Sézary-like cells may be present not only in various benign conditions, as previously known, but also in T-cell lymphomas. This study provides further evidence for the nonspecificity of Sézary-like changes, and stresses the utility of T-cell receptor gene rearrangement study for diagnostic and prognostic procedures during the course of T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders.

DNA, Neoplasm↗

Androgen producing adrenal adenoma. Report on a case associated with hyperparathyroidism.

In a 41-year-old hirsute woman, severe hypercalcemia led to the discovery of hyperparathyroidism related to the involvement (hyperplasia/or adenoma) of the 4 parathyroid glands. Plasma and urinary DHA, plasma DHA-sulfate and delta 5 steroid precursors were elevated. Steroid hormone hypersecretion was stimulated by hCG and ACTH, and exhibited a paradoxical rise during dexamethasone administration. Computerized tomography scanning as well as arteriography disclosed bilateral adrenal hyperplasia and left adrenal adenoma. Bilateral adrenal vein catheterization indicated a left/right gradient for delta 5 steroids and delta 5 steroid sulfates. At surgery a left brown adrenal encapsulated adenoma was removed with a hyperplastic adrenal gland. Results of in vitro studies (adrenal steroid content and incubation) together with postadrenalectomy hormonal results suggest that the left brown adrenal adenoma was the main source of excessive androgen production. The infrequent association of an androgen-producing adrenal adenoma with hyperparathyroidism raises the hypothesis of multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome. However, evidence for this diagnosis is lacking in the absence of other glandular involvement and of family history.

Adenoma↗

Insulin-dependent diabetes: strategy for immune intervention.

Increasingly, experimental results are underlining the role played by autoimmune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of type I insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). It has appeared logical to attempt to preclude the onset of IDDM by suppressing immune responses, but trials using steroids or azathioprine were unequivocal. Subsequently, a Canadian and a French group performed pilot studies to assay a new immunosuppressive drug, cyclosporine A (CyA) in human diabetes (Stiller et al., 1984; Assan et al., 1985). However, further testing is required to evaluate and confirm its potential benefits and possible risks.

Cyclosporins↗

Effect of cyclosporin A treatment on the production of antibody in insulin-dependent (type I) diabetic patients.

Anti-islet cell and anti-insulin antibody production was studies over a 12-mo period in 82 recently diagnosed diabetics randomly receiving either cyclosporin or placebo. Cyclosporin had only minimal effects on the production of anti-islet cell antibodies whether directed to islet cytoplasmic (immunofluorescence) or membrane (cytotoxicity assay) antigens even in patients undergoing remission. These data suggest that these antibodies do not play a major role in the pathogenesis of the disease particularly since their (irregular) presence is not predictive of the clinical response to cyclosporin. Conversely, cyclosporin completely suppressed the synthesis of antibodies elicited by exogenous insulin irrespective of the insulin doses received, and decreased the autoantibody production against thyroid antigens, indicating that cyclosporin has variable effects on antibody production against various antigens.

Antibody Formation↗

[Early induction of diabetes in NOD mice by streptozotocin].

To clarify whether the non-obese diabetes prone (NOD) mouse has an unusual pancreatic sensitivity to damage, mice were administered streptozotocin in high dose (direct beta cell toxic) or multiple low-dose (autoimmune-insulitis generating) regimen. NOD mice were found to be less sensitive to the diabetogenic effects of high-dose streptozotocin than C57BL/6 mice, but were exquisitely responsive to the multiple low dose regimen when compared to C57BL/6 or C3H/HeJ mice. These results suggest that the basic defect in NOD mice resides in the immune system and that the NOD mouse may be a useful model to investigate the relationships between environmental factors and intrinsic genetic predisposition to diabetes.

Animals↗