Teplizumab improves and stabilizes beta cell function in antibody-positive high-risk individuals.

Article Details

Citation
Copy to clipboard

Sims EK, Bundy BN, Stier K, Serti E, Lim N, Long SA, Geyer SM, Moran A, Greenbaum CJ, Evans-Molina C, Herold KC

Teplizumab improves and stabilizes beta cell function in antibody-positive high-risk individuals.

Sci Transl Med. 2021 Mar 3;13(583):eabc8980. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abc8980.

PubMed ID
33658358 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

We analyzed the effects of a single 14-day course of teplizumab treatment on metabolic function and immune cells among participants in a previously reported randomized controlled trial of nondiabetic relatives at high risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D). In an extended follow-up (923-day median) of a previous report of teplizumab treatment, we found that the median times to diagnosis were 59.6 and 27.1 months for teplizumab- and placebo-treated participants, respectively (HR = 0.457, P = 0.01). Fifty percent of teplizumab-treated but only 22% of the placebo-treated remained diabetes-free. Glucose tolerance, C-peptide area under the curve (AUC), and insulin secretory rates were calculated, and relationships to T cell subsets and function were analyzed. Teplizumab treatment improved beta cell function, reflected by average on-study C-peptide AUC (1.94 versus 1.72 pmol/ml; P = 0.006). Drug treatment reversed a decline in insulin secretion before enrollment, followed by stabilization of the declining C-peptide AUC seen with placebo treatment. Proinsulin:C-peptide ratios after drug treatment were similar between the treatment groups. The changes in C-peptide with teplizumab treatment were associated with increases in partially exhausted memory KLRG1(+)TIGIT(+)CD8(+) T cells (r = 0.44, P = 0.014) that showed reduced secretion of IFNgamma and TNFalpha. A single course of teplizumab had lasting effects on delay of T1D diagnosis and improved beta cell function in high-risk individuals. Changes in CD8(+) T cell subsets indicated that partially exhausted effector cells were associated with clinical response. Thus, this trial showed improvement in metabolic responses and delay of diabetes with immune therapy.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drugs