Fresh whole-blood buffy coats from American Red Cross volunteers were used to treat early type I diabetes. Attempts were made to adapt to human diabetic patients a protocol successfully used in prediabetic BB rats. Twenty-two type I diabetic patients (duration of disease <4 wk) were randomized to treatment or control groups; the treatment patients were given one buffy coat(∼0.6 × 109 T-lymphocytes) weekly for 5 wk. Plasma C-peptide (stimulated and unstimulated), insulin dose, and hemoglobin A1c were measured before and periodically after the treatment for 24 wk. The control group underwent the same studies. Although there were no significant differences for the parameters studied between the two groups, 2 of 12 patients in the treatment group underwent three complete (normal glycemia without insulin) temporary remissions. One of these patients was given a second course of transfusions after relapse from the first remission and developeda second complete remission that lasted 2 mo. No control patient had remissions during the 24-wk study.Although the future of adoptive immunotherapy in the treatment or prevention of diabetes is not known, several probable limitations of the current protocol, as discussed here, can explain the differences in results between this trial and the rodent studies.
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Original Contribution|
October 01 1987
Buffy Coat Transfusions in Early Type I Diabetes
John Cavanaugh;
John Cavanaugh
Departments of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the St. Paul Regional Red Cross, St. Paul, Minnesota
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Michael Chopek;
Michael Chopek
Departments of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the St. Paul Regional Red Cross, St. Paul, Minnesota
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Jaume Binimelis;
Jaume Binimelis
Departments of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the St. Paul Regional Red Cross, St. Paul, Minnesota
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Alberto Leiva;
Alberto Leiva
Departments of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the St. Paul Regional Red Cross, St. Paul, Minnesota
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Jose Barbosa
Jose Barbosa
Departments of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the St. Paul Regional Red Cross, St. Paul, Minnesota
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Jose Barbosa, University of Minnesota, Department of Medicine, Box 716 UMHC, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
Diabetes 1987;36(10):1089–1093
Article history
Received:
January 08 1987
Revision Received:
March 25 1987
Accepted:
March 25 1987
PubMed:
3308579
Citation
John Cavanaugh, Michael Chopek, Jaume Binimelis, Alberto Leiva, Jose Barbosa; Buffy Coat Transfusions in Early Type I Diabetes. Diabetes 1 October 1987; 36 (10): 1089–1093. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.36.10.1089
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