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Kevan C Herold

Publications and source records attributed to Kevan C Herold.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Factors that increase class I MHC expression may contribute to the development of immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced diabetes.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved survival of patients with cancer, yet they pose risks of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). ICI-induced insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (ICI-DM) is a life-threatening and life-altering irAE. Previously, we reported a high incidence of a germline missense variant in NLRC5, a key class I transcription activator, among patients with ICI-DM compared with similarly treated patients who did not develop ICI-DM. Our purpose was to validate this finding in additional ICI-treated patients and study effects of the NLRC5 variant on expression of class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen presentation genes.We assessed the prevalence of the C>T missense variant at chr16:57&#x2009;025&#x2009;515 (NLRC5Pro191Leu) in germline DNA from an additional 33 patients with ICI-DM and in patients with ICI-induced colitis (n=15), ICI-induced hypothyroidism (n=19) and ICI-induced hypophysitis (n=17). The 1,000 Genomes Project was used for comparison. We assessed peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 16 individuals with or without the NLRC5 variant, studying expression of NLRC5 and select downstream target genes, before and after stimulation with interferon-&#x3b3;.We validated the higher prevalence of NLRC5Pro191Leu in a non-overlapping cohort of patients with ICI-DM compared with the general population (51.5% vs 12.8%, p<0.0001). The prevalence of NLRC5Pro191Leu in ICI-induced colitis or thyroiditis patients did not significantly differ from the general population, while the prevalence in ICI-induced hypophysitis was somewhat higher (21.6%, p=0.048). We found greater increases in messenger RNA expression of NLRC5 (p=0.007), TAP1 (p=0.0002), B2M (p=0.0005), HLA-G (p=0.04), PSMB8 (p=0.03) and PSMB9 (p=0.01) in NLRC5Pro191Leu cells stimulated with interferon-&#x3b3; compared with NLRC5WT cells. A similar trend was observed for HLA-A (p=0.09).We confirm the significantly higher prevalence of the NLRC5Pro191Leu variant in patients with ICI-DM relative to the general population. This abundance appears to be unique to patients who develop ICI-DM or hypophysitis on ICIs, underscoring its potential involvement in the pathogenesis of these endocrinopathies. The effects of this NLRC5 variant on class I MHC regulators suggest a mechanistic connection between the variant and development of ICI-DM. Further work is warranted to determine whether class I MHC molecules can be modulated in patients with the NLRC5Pro191Leu variant requiring ICIs.

Humans↗

Increasing the accuracy of oral glucose tolerance testing and extending its application to individuals with normal glucose tolerance for the prediction of type 1 diabetes: the Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the extent to which both standard and alternative indexes from 2-h oral glucose tolerance testing predict type 1 diabetes and whether oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) predict type 1 diabetes in individuals with normal glucose tolerance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The prediction of type 1 diabetes from baseline OGTTs was studied in 704 Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1 participants (islet-cell autoantibody [ICA]-positive relatives of type 1 diabetic patients). The maximum follow-up was 7.4 years. Analyses utilized receiver-operator curves (ROCs), proportional hazards models, and survival curves. RESULTS: ROC areas under the curve (ROCAUCs) for both the AUC glucose (0.73 +/- 0.02) and an OGTT prediction index (0.78 +/- 0.02) were higher (P < 0.001) than those for the fasting (0.53 +/- 0.02) and 2-h glucose (0.66 +/- 0.02). ROCAUCs for the 60- and 90-min glucose (0.71 +/- 0.02 and 0.72 +/- 0.02, respectively) were also higher (P < 0.01) than those for the fasting and 2-h glucose. Among individuals with normal glucose tolerance, OGTTs were highly predictive, with 4th versus 1st quartile hazard ratios for the 2-h glucose, AUC glucose, and OGTT prediction index ranging from 3.77 to 5.30 (P < 0.001 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Certain alternative OGTT indexes appear to better predict type 1 diabetes than standard OGTT indexes in ICA-positive relatives of type 1 diabetic patients. Moreover, even among those with normal glucose tolerance, OGTTs are strongly predictive. This suggests that subtle metabolic abnormalities are present several years before the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.

Area Under Curve↗

Anti-CD3 and nasal proinsulin combination therapy enhances remission from recent-onset autoimmune diabetes by inducing Tregs.

Safe induction of autoantigen-specific long-term tolerance is the "holy grail" for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In animal models of type 1 diabetes, oral or i.n. immunization with islet antigens induces Tregs that are capable of bystander suppression. However, such interventions are only effective early in the prediabetic phase. Here, we demonstrate that a novel combination treatment with anti-CD3epsilon-specific antibody and i.n. proinsulin peptide can reverse recent-onset diabetes in 2 murine diabetes models with much higher efficacy than with monotherapy with anti-CD3 or antigen alone. In vivo, expansion of CD25(+)Foxp3(+) and insulin-specific Tregs producing IL-10, TGF-beta, and IL-4 was strongly enhanced. These cells could transfer dominant tolerance to immunocompetent recent-onset diabetic recipients and suppressed heterologous autoaggressive CD8 responses. Thus, combining a systemic immune modulator with antigen-specific Treg induction is more efficacious in reverting diabetes. Since Tregs act site-specifically, this strategy should also be expected to reduce the potential for systemic side effects.

Administration, Intranasal↗

Drug insight: New immunomodulatory therapies in type 1 diabetes.

Animal models and human studies have provided strong evidence that the immune response that causes type 1A diabetes is initiated against a limited array of antigens but acquires breadth and depth until beta-cell mass has been critically compromised. Two recent trials confirmed the ability to identify relatives at risk for development of diabetes, but were unsuccessful in preventing disease. Treatment of at-risk individuals with oral insulin, which is postulated to be an antigen in the disease, did however show efficacy in a subgroup of these subjects, suggesting that antigen-specific prevention approaches might be successful in the right group of subjects at the right time. Earlier trials showed that the natural progression of disease can be altered with conventional immune suppression but these approaches have been supplanted by tolerance-induction strategies. Anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies have shown efficacy in preventing the loss of insulin production over the first 2 years of disease without chronic immune suppression. The mechanisms are novel, and appear to involve induction of immune regulation by the monoclonal antibody. Ultimately, preservation and even improvement in beta-cell mass is the goal of therapy. The means needed to achieve this will depend on the timing and mechanisms of the immune intervention and might require combinations of agents.

Blood Glucose↗

Effects of autoimmunity and immune therapy on beta-cell turnover in type 1 diabetes.

beta-Cell mass can expand in response to demand: during pregnancy, in the setting of insulin resistance, or after pancreatectomy. It is not known whether similar beta-cell hyperplasia occurs following immune therapy of autoimmune diabetes, but the clinical remission soon after diagnosis and the results of recent immune therapy studies suggest that beta-cell recovery is possible. We studied changes in beta-cell replication, mass, and apoptosis in NOD mice during progression to overt diabetes and following immune therapy with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) or immune regulatory T-cells (Tregs). beta-Cell replication increases in pre-diabetic mice, after adoptive transfer of diabetes with increasing islet inflammation but before an increase in blood glucose concentration or a significant decrease in beta-cell mass. The pathogenic cells are responsible for increasing beta-cell replication because replication was reduced during diabetes remission induced by anti-CD3 mAb or Tregs. beta-Cell replication stimulated by the initial inflammatory infiltrate results in increased production of new beta-cells after immune therapy and increased beta-cell area, but the majority of this increased beta-cell area represents regranulated beta-cells rather than newly produced cells. We conclude that beta-cell replication is closely linked to the islet inflammatory process. A significant proportion of degranulated beta-cells remain, at the time of diagnosis of diabetes, that can recover after metabolic correction of hyperglycemia. Correction of the beta-cell loss in type 1 diabetes will, therefore, require strategies that target both the immunologic and cellular mechanisms that destroy and maintain beta-cell mass.

Animals↗

Analysis of T-cell assays to measure autoimmune responses in subjects with type 1 diabetes: results of a blinded controlled study.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease mediated by autoreactive T-cells. Several experimental therapies targeting T-cells are in clinical trials. To understand how these therapies affect T-cell responses in vivo, assays that directly measure human T-cell function are needed. In a blinded, multicenter, case-controlled study conducted by the Immune Tolerance Network, we tested responses in an immunoblot and T-cell proliferative assay to distinguish type 1 diabetic patients from healthy control subjects. Peripheral blood cells from 39 healthy control subjects selected for DR4 and 23 subjects with recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes were studied. Autoantibody responses were measured in serum samples. Positive responses in both assays were more common in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from new-onset type 1 diabetic patients compared with control subjects. The proliferative, immunoblot, and autoantibody assays had sensitivities of 58, 91, and 78% with specificities of 94, 83, and 85%, respectively. When cellular assays were combined with autoantibody measurements, the sensitivity of the measurements was 75% with 100% specificity. We conclude that cellular assays performed on peripheral blood have a high degree of accuracy in discriminating responses in subjects with type 1 diabetes from healthy control subjects. They may be useful for assessment of cellular autoimmune responses involved in type 1 diabetes.

Adolescent↗

Patterns of metabolic progression to type 1 diabetes in the Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1.

OBJECTIVE: There is little information regarding the pattern of metabolic deterioration before the onset of type 1 diabetes. The goal of this study was to utilize data from the Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1 (DPT-1) to obtain a picture of the metabolic progression to type 1 diabetes over a period of approximately 2.5 years before its diagnosis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Fifty-four DPT-1 participants (22 in the parenteral trial and 32 in the oral trial) were studied. All had oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) at 6-month intervals from approximately 30 to 6 months before diagnosis. The vast majority also had OGTTs at diagnosis. Changes in OGTT glucose and C-peptide indexes from 30 to 6 months before diagnosis were examined by calculating slopes of the indexes for each individual over that time period. Changes from 6 months before diagnosis to diagnosis were examined by paired comparisons of the OGTT metabolic indexes between the time points. RESULTS: Glucose levels increased gradually from 30 to 6 months before diagnosis in both the parenteral and oral groups (P < 0.001 for all indexes). Area under the curve (AUC) C-peptide (P < 0.05) and AUC C-peptide-to-AUC glucose ratio (P < 0.001) values decreased in the oral group; peak C-peptide-to-2-h glucose ratio values decreased in both groups (P < 0.001). In participants who also had OGTTs at diagnosis, AUC C-peptide (parenteral group, P < 0.05) and peak C-peptide (oral group, P < 0.05) values decreased from the last 6 months before diagnosis; stimulated C-peptide-to-glucose ratio values decreased in both groups (P < 0.001). Conversely, fasting C-peptide levels increased in both groups (oral group, P < 0.01). Fasting C-peptide-to-fasting glucose ratio values remained constant throughout the 30-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that over a period of at least 2 years, glucose tolerance gradually deteriorates as stimulated C-peptide levels slowly decline in a substantial number of individuals who develop type 1 diabetes. However, fasting C-peptide levels are maintained, even at diagnosis.

Area Under Curve↗

TCR stimulation with modified anti-CD3 mAb expands CD8+ T cell population and induces CD8+CD25+ Tregs.

Modified anti-CD3 mAbs are emerging as a possible means of inducing immunologic tolerance in settings including transplantation and autoimmunity such as in type 1 diabetes. In a trial of a modified anti-CD3 mAb [hOKT3gamma1(Ala-Ala)] in patients with type 1 diabetes, we identified clinical responders by an increase in the number of peripheral blood CD8+ cells following treatment with the mAb. Here we show that the anti-CD3 mAb caused activation of CD8+ T cells that was similar in vitro and in vivo and induced regulatory CD8+CD25+ T cells. These cells inhibited the responses of CD4+ cells to the mAb itself and to antigen. The regulatory CD8+CD25+ cells were CTLA4 and Foxp3 and required contact for inhibition. Foxp3 was also induced on CD8+ T cells in patients during mAb treatment, which suggests a potential mechanism of the anti-CD3 mAb immune modulatory effects involving induction of a subset of regulatory CD8+ T cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Regulatory T cells and type 1 diabetes.

Regulatory T cells are now recognized as important mediators of self-tolerance and may mediate responses to immune therapy. The mechanisms of action of these cells are diverse, and some studies suggest that there may be defects in regulatory cells in patients with type 1 diabetes. These cells may be expanded by immune therapy, suggesting the possible development of adoptive immune therapy to transfer regulation with the cells.

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1↗

A single course of anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody hOKT3gamma1(Ala-Ala) results in improvement in C-peptide responses and clinical parameters for at least 2 years after onset of type 1 diabetes.

Despite advances in understanding autoimmune diabetes in animal models, there has been little progress in altering the natural course of the human disease, which involves progression to insulin deficiency. Studies with immunosuppressive agents have shown short-term effectiveness, but they have not induced tolerance, and continuous treatment is needed. We studied the effects of hOKT3gamma1(Ala-Ala), a humanized Fc mutated anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, on the progression of type 1 diabetes in patients with recent-onset disease in a randomized controlled trial. In general, the drug was well tolerated. A single course of treatment, within the first 6 weeks after diagnosis, preserved C-peptide responses to a mixed meal for 1 year after diagnosis (97 +/- 9.6% of response at study entry in drug-treated patients vs. 53 +/- 7.6% in control subjects, P < 0.01), with significant improvement in C-peptide responses to a mixed meal even 2 years after treatment (P < 0.02). The improved C-peptide responses were accompanied by reduced HbA(1c) and insulin requirements. Clinical responses to drug treatment were predicted by an increase in the relative number of CD8(+) T-cells in the peripheral blood after the lymphocyte count recovered 2 weeks after the last dose of drug. We conclude that treatment with the anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody hOKT3gamma1(Ala-Ala) results in improved C-peptide responses and clinical parameters in type 1 diabetes for at least 2 years in the absence of continued immunosuppressive medications.

Adolescent↗

Natural history of beta-cell function in type 1 diabetes.

Despite extensive and ongoing investigations of the immune mechanisms of autoimmune diabetes in humans and animal models, there is much less information about the natural history of insulin secretion before and after the clinical presentation of type 1 diabetes and the factors that may affect its course. Studies of insulin production previously published and from the Diabetes Prevention Trial (DPT)-1 suggest that there is progressive impairment in insulin secretory responses but the reserve in response to physiological stimuli may be significant at the time of diagnosis, although maximal responses are more significantly impaired. Other factors, including insulin resistance, may play a role in the timing of clinical presentation along this continuum. The factors that predict the occurrence and rapidity of decline in beta-cell function are still largely unknown, but most studies have identified islet cell autoantibodies as predictors of future decline and age as a determinant of residual insulin production at diagnosis. Historical as well as recent clinical experience has emphasized the importance of residual insulin production for glycemic control and prevention of end-organ complications. Understanding the modifiers and predictors of beta-cell function would allow targeting immunological approaches to those individuals most likely to benefit from therapy.

Adolescent↗

RAGE: a journey from the complications of diabetes to disorders of the nervous system - striking a fine balance between injury and repair.

The Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) is a multiligand member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. RAGE interacts with AGEs, the products of nonenzymatic glycation/oxidation of proteins and lipids that accumulate in diverse settings, such as diabetes, inflammation, renal failure, pro-oxidant states and natural aging. In addition, RAGE is also a receptor for amyloid-beta peptide and beta-sheet fibril species. Recent studies underscore the premise that RAGE interacts with pro-inflammatory molecules, including S100/calgranulins and amphoterin, the latter also known as high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). In chronic neurodegenerative disorders as well as in nerve tissue upon acute injury, evidence points to upregulation of both RAGE and these ligand families. In this review, we will discuss the implications of transient/self-limited upregulation of RAGE and its ligands, vs sustained/chronic upregulation of this axis in neurodegeneration vs repair in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Experimental evidence supports the premise that RAGE bears both homeostatic and injurious properties in the nervous system, thereby highlighting "yin/yang" features of this receptor and its ligand families.

Animals↗

Blockade of late stages of autoimmune diabetes by inhibition of the receptor for advanced glycation end products.

Ligation of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) occurs during inflammation. Engagement of RAGE results in enhanced expression of addressins and it is therefore, not surprising that previous studies have shown a role of RAGE/ligand interactions in immune responses including cell/cell contact but the role of RAGE in spontaneous autoimmunity has not been clearly defined. To study the role of RAGE/ligand interactions in autoimmune diabetes, we tested the ability of soluble RAGE, a scavenger of RAGE ligands, in late stages of diabetes development in the NOD mouse-disease transferred with diabetogenic T cells and recurrent disease in NOD/scid recipients of syngeneic islet transplants. RAGE expression was detected on CD4(+), CD8(+), and B cells from diabetic mice and transferred to NOD/scid recipients. RAGE and its ligand, S100B, were found in the islets of NOD/scid mice that developed diabetes. Treatment of recipient NOD/scid mice with soluble RAGE prevented transfer of diabetes and delayed recurrent disease in syngeneic islet transplants. RAGE blockade was associated with increased expression of IL-10 and TGF-beta in the islets from protected mice. RAGE blockade reduced the transfer of disease with enriched T cells, but had no effect when diabetes was transferred with the activated CD4(+) T cell clone, BDC2.5. We conclude that RAGE/ligand interactions are involved in the differentiation of T cells to a mature pathogenic phenotype during the late stages of the development of diabetes.

Animals↗

Treatment of type 1 diabetes with anti-T-cell agents: from T-cell depletion to T-cell regulation.

Studies in animal models of type 1 diabetes had suggested that the disease was due to an immune-mediated destruction of insulin-producing cells. As this understanding was developed, clinical trials that were directed against T cells were begun, because these lymphocytes were thought to be the primary mediators of disease. Initial studies used broad-spectrum agents and showed general efficacy in either preventing the loss of insulin secretion or reducing the need for exogenous insulin. Although encouraging, the enthusiasm for this approach waned due to the lack of long-term effects and toxicities. These studies were followed by trials with more specific agents, but the issue of toxicity remained. Newer agents, such as anti-CD3 antibody, are also targeted against T cells but the toxicity and efficacy of modified anti-CD3 antibody, for example, appears to be improved over previously tested agents. In addition, our understanding of the immunologic effects of anti-T-cell agents has evolved. Data now suggest that efficacy and duration of the effects of anti-T-cell drugs can be enhanced when the agents provoke immune modulation rather than depletion of effector cells.

Animals↗

Achieving antigen-specific immune regulation.

A study in this issue of the JCI shows that in response to autoantigens consisting of peptides from normal proteins, patients with diabetes mount a T cell response characterized by production of IFN-gamma (see the related article beginning on page 451). However, in response to these same antigens, T cells from normal control subjects produce IL-10. The antigen-specific response characterized by release of a regulatory cytokine suggests a mechanism for the control of autoimmunity that is initiated at the time of antigen presentation.

Antigens↗