Noninvasive imaging of pancreatic islet inflammation in type 1A diabetes patients
Jason L. Gaglia, … , Diane Mathis, Ralph Weissleder
Jason L. Gaglia, … , Diane Mathis, Ralph Weissleder
Published December 1, 2010
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2011;121(1):442-445. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI44339.
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Brief Report Autoimmunity

Noninvasive imaging of pancreatic islet inflammation in type 1A diabetes patients

Abstract

Type 1A diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by leukocyte infiltration of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. A major impediment to advances in understanding, preventing, and curing T1D has been the inability to “see” the disease initiate, progress, or regress, especially during the occult phase. Here, we report the development of a noninvasive method to visualize T1D at the target organ level in patients with active insulitis. Specifically, we visualized islet inflammation, manifest by microvascular changes and monocyte/macrophage recruitment and activation, using magnetic resonance imaging of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). As a proof of principle for this approach, imaging of infused ferumoxtran-10 nanoparticles permitted effective visualization of the pancreas and distinction of recent-onset diabetes patients from nondiabetic controls. The observation that MNPs accumulate in the pancreas of T1D patients opens the door to exploiting this noninvasive imaging method to follow T1D progression and monitoring the ability of immunomodulatory agents to clear insulitis.

Authors

Jason L. Gaglia, Alexander R. Guimaraes, Mukesh Harisinghani, Stuart E. Turvey, Richard Jackson, Christophe Benoist, Diane Mathis, Ralph Weissleder

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Figure 1

Pancreas volume index (PVI) of recently diagnosed diabetes patients is less than that of controls.

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Pancreas volume index (PVI) of recently diagnosed diabetes patients is l...
(A) PVI, calculated by dividing pancreas volume by body-surface area, of patients with recent onset T1D (n = 10, circles) is less than that of nondiabetic controls (n = 11, squares). The bars indicate mean values (T1D 24.1 ± 5.7 ml/m2, controls 35.0 ± 11.5 ml/m2; Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.007). (B) Representative single MR-VIBE slices at the level of the body/tail of the pancreas are shown with the pancreas outlined in green. The control subject (upper panel) and the individual with recent onset T1D (lower panel) have total estimated pancreas volumes of 119 ml and 50 ml respectively.