Soluble adhesion molecules in young children with signs of β-cell autoimmunity—prospective follow-up from birth

✍ Scribed by Anna M. Toivonen; Teija Kimpimäki; Antti Kupila; Sari Korhonen; Heikki Hyöty; Suvi M. Virtanen; Jorma Ilonen; Olli Simell; Mikael Knip

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 129 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1520-7552
• DOI: 10.1002/dmrr.597

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Background

This study aimed at evaluating the relationship between the circulating concentrations of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 (sICAM‐1) and sL‐selectin and the appearance of β‐cell autoimmunity, and at assessing whether these molecules could assist in the identification of environmental factors implicated in the immune process damaging the pancreatic β‐cells.

Methods

Serum levels of soluble adhesion molecules were measured with enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays over the first 2 years of life in 65 children seroconverting to positivity for autoantibodies and 65 control children, all with HLA‐conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Results

The total integrated concentrations of soluble adhesion molecules were comparable between the two groups. The autoantibody‐positive children tended to have higher sL‐selectin concentrations during the 3‐month seroconversion (SC) period than did the control children during the corresponding period (P = 0.07), the difference being significant (P = 0.03) after excluding subjects with signs of a concurrent enterovirus infection. Autoantibody‐positive children had higher concentrations of sL‐selectin in the 3‐month period when an enterovirus infection was detectable than did the control children (P = 0.018). No significant difference could, however, be seen after excluding the children with concomitant seroconversion to autoantibody positivity.

Conclusions

Elevated concentrations of sL‐selectin are temporally associated with seroconversion to autoantibody positivity suggesting that leukocyte activation might coincide with the appearance of β‐cell autoimmunity. Early‐onset progressive β‐cell autoimmunity, on the other hand, is not reflected in overall increased concentrations of soluble adhesion molecules in the peripheral circulation during the first 2 years of life in children carrying increased HLA‐conferred disease susceptibility. Enterovirus infections (EVIs) are not independently associated with increased circulating sL‐selectin concentrations in young children with enhanced HLA‐conferred susceptibility to T1D. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.