title: Reduced blood leukocyte and neutrophil numbers in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.
abstract: Very little is known about the role of the innate immune system in the course of human type 1 diabetes. Here we investigated neutrophil numbers along with other leukocyte populations in patients at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and during prediabetes. Complete and differential blood counts were analyzed from 107 adult patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, 21 children with persistent islet autoantibodies and a family history of type 1 diabetes, and 1 238 age and gender matched control subjects, all individuals without any signs of acute infection.Adult patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes had significantly lower total WBC (p<1×10⁻⁶), neutrophil (p<1×10⁻⁶), basophil (p<1×10⁻⁶), monocyte (p=4×10⁻⁶) and lymphocyte (p<1×10⁻⁶) counts compared to control subjects. Erythrocyte, eosinophil and platelet counts did not differ between groups. Similarly, children with persistent islet autoantibodies had decreased WBC (p=0.001), neutrophils (p=0.003), and lymphocytes (p=0.006) in comparison to control children. Our findings demonstrate a perturbation of leukocyte homeostasis at and prior to onset of type 1 diabetes suggesting a general involvement of the innate immune system in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.
authors: Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, and Forschergruppe Diabetes, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors: M H
authors: MH
authors: Harsunen
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Puff
authors: O
authors: O
authors: D'Orlando
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Giannopoulou
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Lachmann
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Beyerlein
authors: A
authors: A
authors: von Meyer
authors: A-G
authors: AG
authors: Ziegler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult