AUTHOR=Penaforte-Saboia Jaquellyne G. , Montenegro Renan M. , Couri Carlos E. , Batista Livia A. , Montenegro Ana Paula D. R. , Fernandes Virginia O. , Akhtar Hussain , Negrato Carlos A. , Malmegrim Kelen Cristina Ribeiro , Moraes Daniela Aparecida , Dias Juliana B. E. , Simões Belinda P. , Gomes Marilia Brito , Oliveira Maria Carolina TITLE=Microvascular Complications in Type 1 Diabetes: A Comparative Analysis of Patients Treated with Autologous Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation and Conventional Medical Therapy JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2017.00331 DOI=10.3389/fendo.2017.00331 ISSN=1664-2392 ABSTRACT=Objective

To explore the impact on microvascular complications, long-term preservation of residual B-cell function and glycemic control of patients with type 1 diabetes treated with autologous nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (AHST) compared with conventional medical therapy (CT).

Research design and methods

Cross-sectional data of patients treated with AHST were compared with patients who received conventional therapy from the Brazilian Type 1 Diabetes Study Group, the largest multicenter observational study in type 1 diabetes mellitus in Brazil. Both groups of patients had diabetes for 8 years on average. An assessment comparison was made on the presence of microvascular complications, residual function of B cell, A1c, and insulin dose of the patients.

Results

After a median of 8 years of diagnosis, none of the AHST-treated patients (n = 24) developed microvascular complications, while 21.5% (31/144) had at least one (p < 0.005) complication in the CT group (n = 144). Furthermore, no case of nephropathy was reported in the AHST group, while 13.8% of CT group (p < 0.005) developed nephropathy during the same period. With regard of residual B-cell function, the percentage of individuals with predicted higher C-peptide levels (IDAA1C ≤ 9) was about 10-fold higher in the AHST group compared with CT (75 vs. 8.3%) (p < 0.001) group. Among AHST patients, 54.1% (13/24) had the HbA1c < 7.0 compared with 13.1% in the CT (p < 0.001) group.

Conclusion

Patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes treated with AHST presented lower prevalence of microvascular complications, higher residual B-cell function, and better glycemic control compared with the CT group.