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Introduction: The transition from paediatric to adult diabetes care (TPA) of children/adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) represents a unique challenge and remains a critical phase in the T1D care pathway. This study aims to describe and understand the experience of the transition process from a participant's perspective in young adults who are living in France with T1D and to measure their satisfaction. Methods: An online questionnaire was presented to people with T1D in France on a global online participant community platform. The questionnaire was developed by a scientific committee including paediatric and adult diabetologists and refined by a group of participants. Thematic qualitative analysis was performed on the responses. Results: A total of 104 respondents were included in the survey (mean age 24.4 years [95% CI 23.8–25.0]; 61.5% female). The mean age at the time of transition was 18.4 years (95% CI 17.8–18.9), and 56% of respondents had their first adult diabetology follow-up in the same institution. During TPA, of the 76 participants who experienced personal issues, 74% experienced at least one issue with their diabetes management in the months following the transition. In the following months, 61% experienced new or unexpected problems in monitoring their diabetes after transition and 44% reported unusual glycaemic imbalances, including hypoglycaemia (8%) and hyperglycaemia (9%) requiring hospitalisation. Presence of personal issues during TPA was significantly associated with occurrence of problems with diabetes management or glycaemic imbalance. Three factors identified for a successful transition were (i) early meeting with the 'adult' diabetes care team, (ii) letting the participants choose the right age to leave paediatric clinic and (iii) having good diabetes control at the beginning of the TPA process. Conclusion: Most young adults with T1D report experiencing issues around TPA with significant consequences on their disease management. Hence, it is necessary to identify these issues to better support them and improve diabetes management during this phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Second-generation basal insulins like glargine 300 U/mL (Gla-300) have a longer duration of action and less daily fluctuation and interday variability than first-generation ones, such as glargine 100 U/mL (Gla-100). The EF-BI study, a nationwide observational, retrospective study, was designed to compare persistence, acute care complications, and healthcare costs associated with the initiation of such basal insulins (BI) in a real-life setting in France. Methods: This study was conducted using the French healthcare claims database (SNDS). Adult patients living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T1DM or T2DM) initiating Gla-300 or Gla-100 ± other hypoglycemic medications between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020, and without any insulin therapy over the previous 6 months were included. Persistence was defined as remaining on the same insulin therapy until discontinuation defined by a 6 month period without insulin reimbursement. Hospitalized acute complications were identified using ICD-10 codes. Total collective costs were established for patients treated continuously with each basal insulin over 1–3 years. All comparisons were adjusted using a propensity score based on initial patient/treatment characteristics. Results: A total of 235,894 patients with T2DM and 6672 patients with T1DM were included. Patients treated with Gla-300 were 83% (T1DM) and 44% (T2DM) less likely to discontinue their treatment than those treated with Gla-100 after 24 months (p < 0.0001). The annual incidence of acute hospitalized events in patients with T2DM treated with Gla-300 was 12% lower than with Gla-100 (p < 0.0001) but similar in patients with T1DM. Comparison of overall costs showed moderate but statistically significant differences in favor of Gla-300 versus Gla-100 for all patients over the first year, and in T2DM only over a 3-year follow-up. Conclusion: Use of Gla-300 resulted in a better persistence, less acute hospitalized events at least in T2DM, and reduced healthcare expenditure. These real-life results confirmed the potential interest of using Gla-300 rather than Gla-100. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction is presented to the article "Basal Insulinotherapy in Patients Living with Diabetes in France: The EF‑BI Study" which appeared in the previous issue of the periodical.

Introduction: Telemedicine programs using health technological innovation to remotely monitor the lifestyles of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) can improve glycaemic control and thus reduce the incidence of complications as well as management costs. In this context, an assessment was made of the 1-year and 2-year cost-effectiveness of the EDUC@DOM telemonitoring and tele-education program. Methods: The EDUC@DOM study was a multicentre randomized controlled trial conducted between 2013 and 2017 that compared a telemonitoring group (TMG) to a control group (CG) merged with health insurance databases to extract economic data on resource consumption. Economic analysis was performed from the payer perspective, and direct costs and indirect costs were considered. The clinical outcome used was the intergroup change in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels from baseline. Missing economic data were imputed using multiple imputation, and fitted values from a generalized linear mixed model were used to calculate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Bootstrapped 95% confidence ellipses were drawn in the cost-effectiveness plan. Results: The main analysis included data from 256 patients: 126 in the TMG and 130 in the CG. Incremental costs over 1 and 2 years were equal to €2129 and €5101, respectively, in favour of the TMG. Once imputed and adjusted for confounding factors, the TMG trends to a 21% cost decrease over 1 and 2 years of follow-up (0.79 [0.58; 1.08], p = 0.1452 and 0.79 [0.61; 1.03], p = 0.0879, respectively). The EDUC@DOM program led to a €1334 cost saving and a 0.17 decrease in HbA1c over 1 year and a €3144 cost saving and a 0.14 decrease in HbA1c over 2 years. According to the confidence ellipse, EDUC@DOM was a cost-effective strategy. Conclusion: This study provides additional economic information on telemonitoring and tele-education programs to enhance their acceptance and promote their use. In the light of this work, the EDUC@DOM program is a cost-saving strategy in T2D management. Trial registration: This trial was registered in the Clinical Trials Database on 27 September 2013 under no. NCT01955031 and bears ID-RCB no. 2013-A00391-44. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Telemonitoring in type 2 diabetes (T2D) is mainly based on glucose monitoring. A new type of connected device which routinely gathers data on weight, physical activity and food intake could improve patients' diabetes control. The main aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of an at-home interventional programme incorporating such devices and lifestyle education software on diabetes control, i.e., change in HbA1c, compared to standard care. Methods: This multicentre study randomly assigned 282 people with T2D to either a telemonitoring group (TMG) or a control group (CG) for a 1-year intervention period. While routine follow-up was maintained in the CG, TMG subjects were provided with interactive lifestyle educational software (with artificial intelligence algorithms) and connected objects (blood glucose meters, scales and actimeters) for use in their own homes and were remotely monitored by their diabetologists. Changes in HbA1c were compared between groups using a mixed linear model. Results: The mean HbA1c dropped from 7.8 ± 0.8% (62 mmol/mol) to 7.4 ± 1.0% (57 mmol/mol) in the TMG and from 7.8 ± 0.8% (62 mmol/mol) to 7.6 ± 1.0% (60 mmol/mol) in the CG, resulting in an intergroup difference of − 0.16 (p = 0.06) in favour of TMG, after adjustment for confounding factors. Within TMG, the decrease in HbA1c was greater in frequent users: − 0.23% (p = 0.03) in the case of connections to telemonitoring synthesis above the median and − 0.21% (p = 0.05) in the case of connections to tele-education software above the median compared to the CG. Significant weight loss was observed in the TMG but only in women (p = 0.01). Findings: The EDUC@DOM telemonitoring and tele-education device did not highlight a significant decrease in HbA1c levels compared to routine management although a slight, albeit significant improvement in glycaemic control was observed in the frequent user subgroup as well as significant weight loss but only in women. A high level of satisfaction with the connected device was recorded amongst all participants. Trial Registration: This trial was registered in the Clinical Trials Database on September 27, 2013, under no. NCT01955031 and bears ID-RCB number 2013-A00391-44. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to demonstrate that the total number of days in hospital required for healing of a de novo diabetes-related foot ulcer (DFU) is lower in patients followed up using a telemedicine platform (Télépied Follow-Up group [Group 2]) than in patients followed up using standard care (Standard Follow-Up control group [Group 1]). Patients are assigned to either Group 1 or Group 2 depending on whether their first inclusion visit is during an even or odd week. Patients included in Group 1 are to be followed at spaced intervals during day hospital visits by the investigator assisted by a specialized referral nurse as part of the regular follow-up procedure (dressing changes + ulcer monitoring). Between visits, an independent nurse (IN) provides local care on a daily basis. Patients included in Group 2 have their DFU treated by a referral nurse trained at the diabetic foot unit of the investigating centre, and they are also followed up by an IN under the supervision of a referral nurse. In Group 2, monitoring of lesions is performed weekly by the referral nurse using photos of the DFU with planimetry taken by the IN and sent to the referral nurse via telemedicine software. The referral nurse can, in turn, provide guidance to the IN on the care to be provided and/or decide that a further hospital visit is needed. Both treatment groups are to be followed for 12 months or until complete healing of the ulcer. Results: Recruitment for the study began in March 2017 and ended in May 2019, with the final study visit scheduled for May 2020. Conclusion: The aim of the Télépied study is to assess the impact of ambulatory foot ulcer management in diabetics over a 1-year period by a non-specialized IN working under the supervision of a referral nurse via telemedicine follow-up versus standard follow-up by an IN alone. The primary endpoint is the total duration of hospitalization required until full healing of the ulcer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Regular physical activity (PA) is recommended by all type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) management guidelines. The OPADIA study aimed to determine whether using a specific patient questionnaire (Optima-PA©) could help T2DM patients increase their PA by leading to better physician-patient communication and improved levels of shared decision making concerning Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, Timely (SMART)-PA micro-objectives.Methods: Physicians participating in this multicentre, prospective, randomised, real-life study were allocated to a standard group (T2DM patients managed according to usual clinical practice, n = 24) or the OPTIMA-PA group (additional use of the questionnaire, n = 30). The main outcome was the percentage of inclusion visits ending with the setting up of at least one SMART-PA micro-objective. Other outcomes were the impact of the OPTIMA-PA questionnaire on patient perceptions of shared decision making (ENTRED questionnaire) and the impact of the OPTIMA-PA questionnaire and establishing SMART-PA micro-objectives as well as patient-perceived physician empathy (ENTRED questionnaire) and GP aptitude for patient-centredness (SEPCQ scores) on patient PA levels over a 3-month period (IPAQ-SF scores).Results: One hundred twenty-two patients were included in the standard group and 134 in the OPTIMA-PA group. Unexpectedly, more inclusion visits ended with SMART-PA micro-objectives being set up in the standard group (p < 0.001): 81.1% (n = 99/122) versus 59.7% (n = 80/134). However, fewer patients in the OPTIMA-PA group felt that GPs made decisions alone (32% versus 60%; p < 0.0001). Positive correlations were also observed between GP patient-centredness and patient-perceived GP empathy or increased patient PA over the study period.Conclusion: Although the OPTIMA-PA questionnaire did not directly promote setting up of SMART-PA micro-objectives in T2DM patients, the OPADIA study demonstrated that this tool was effective at improving patient-physician relationships by increasing patient involvement in therapeutic decision making. Our study also highlighted the importance of GP aptitude for patient-centredness for improving PA in T2DM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Saxagliptin is a potent, reversible inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 that is indicated for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The DIAPAZON study was a multicenter observational study intended to document the effectiveness, safety and patterns of saxagliptin use in France, including the saxagliptin retention rate, over 2 years of follow-up. Methods: A geographically representative sample of 304 French physicians (general practitioners and specialist endocrinologists or diabetologists) recruited 1131 adults with type 2 diabetes into an ambispective cohort; 1033 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All had started saxagliptin during the previous 6 months or at study inclusion, and follow-up was for 24 ± 3 months after starting saxagliptin. Results: The mean age of the study population when starting saxagliptin was 61 years, and the mean HbA1c level was 8.0%; 79% had an HbA1c level C7%. Prior to starting saxagliptin treatment, most participants (91%) were receiving treatment with oral glucose-lowering drugs alone. The most commonly prescribed regimen at starting saxagliptin (53% of participants) was a combination of saxagliptin and metformin. The overall saxagliptin retention rate at 2 years Enhanced content To view enhanced content for this was 79%, as estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The most common reasons for discontinuation were inadequate glycemic control (52%) and intolerance (22%). During the course of the study, the mean HbA1c level decreased to 7.0%, and the percentage of people with HbA1c <7% increased from 21% to 49%. The mean change in body weight was -1.8 kg. A total of 294 hypoglycemic episodes were reported in 70 participants (6.8%) during the follow-up period. Of these, 143 episodes in 41 participants (4.0%) occurred when saxagliptin was used in combination with agents associated with hypoglycemia, such as insulin, sulfonylureas or glinides. Conclusion: Saxagliptin is efficacious and well tolerated in a real-world practice setting, with almost 80% of participants remaining on treatment after 2 years. Funding: AstraZeneca, France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Post-marketing drug surveillance is largely based on signals found in spontaneous reports from patients and healthcare providers. Rare adverse drug reactions and adverse events (AEs) that may develop after long-term exposure to a drug or from drug interactions may be missed. The US FDA and others have proposed that web-based data could be mined as a resource to detect latent signals associated with adverse drug reactions.Methods: Recently, a web-based search query method called a query log reaction score (QLRS) was developed to detect whether AEs associated with certain drugs could be found from search engine query data. In this study, we compare the performance of two other algorithms, the proportional query ratio (PQR) and the proportional query rate ratio (Q-PRR) against that of two reference signal-detection algorithms (SDAs) commonly used with the FDA AE Reporting System (FAERS) database.Results: In summary, the web query methods have moderate sensitivity (80%) in detecting signals in web query data compared with reference SDAs in FAERS when the web query data are filtered, but the query metrics generate many false-positives and have low specificity compared with reference SDAs in FAERS.Conclusion: Future research is needed to find better refinements of query data and/or the metrics to improve the specificity of these web query log algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this subgroup analysis is to investigate the effectiveness of liraglutide in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) treated within the primary care physician (PCP) and specialist care settings.Methods: EVIDENCE is a prospective, observational study of 3152 adults with T2D recently starting or about to start liraglutide treatment in France. We followed patients in the PCP and specialist settings for 2 years to evaluate the effectiveness of liraglutide in glycemic control and body weight reduction. Furthermore, we evaluated the changes in combined antihyperglycemic treatments, the reasons for prescribing liraglutide, patient satisfaction, and safety of liraglutide in these two treatment settings.Results: After 2 years of follow-up, 477 out of 1209 (39.0%) of PCP and 297 out of 1398 (21.2%) of specialist-treated patients still used liraglutide and maintained the glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) target of <7.0%. Significant reductions from baseline were observed in both PCP- and specialist-treated cohorts in mean HbA1c (-1.22% and -0.8%, respectively), fasting plasma glucose (FPG) concentration (-39 and -23 mg/dL), body weight (-4.4 and -3.8 kg), and body mass index (BMI) (-1.5 and -1.4 kg/m2), all p < 0.0001. Reductions in HbA1c and FPG were significantly greater among PCP- compared with specialist-treated patients, p < 0.0001 for both. Patient treatment satisfaction was also significantly increased in both cohorts. Reported gastrointestinal adverse events were less frequent among PCP-treated patients compared with specialist-treated patients (4.5% vs. 16.1%).Conclusion: Despite differences in demography and clinical characteristics of patients treated for T2D in PCP and specialty care, greater reduction in HbA1c and increased glycemic control durability were observed with liraglutide in primary care, compared with specialist care. These data suggest that liraglutide treatment could benefit patients in primary care by delaying the need for further treatment intensification.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01226966.Funding: Novo Nordisk A/S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13300-022-01207-1. Correction to: Diabetes Ther https://doi.org/10.1007/s13300-022-01207-1 In the original article, the author group is appearing incorrectly. [Extracted from the article]

Background: The OPTIMA© (MSD, Courbevoie, France) questionnaire was developed to promote shared decisions and the set-up of specific micro-objectives in clinical practice by optimizing communication between type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients and their physicians. The present study aimed to assess OPTIMA in clinical practice.Methods: A cross-sectional multicenter observational study was conducted in France from 2012 to 2014. During routine consultation, patients completed one of the five modules of the OPTIMA questionnaire (Physical activity, Diet, Treatment, Knowledge of the disease or Self-monitoring of blood glucose). The rate of SMART (specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, timely) micro-objective set-up following the use of the questionnaire was assessed. Data on how patients felt about their diabetes management (beliefs concerning actions, how easy they were to do and how often they were done in practice) were gathered. Finally, patients' and physicians' opinions on OPTIMA were assessed using the PRAgmatic Content and face validity Test (PRAC-Test© (Mapi, Lyon, France) evaluation questionnaire.Results: Overall, 807 patients were included by 186 physicians. While 92.7 % of consultations led to the set-up of a micro-objective, only 22.3 % were SMART micro-objectives: Physical activity module (34.3 %), Diet module (9.6 %), Treatment module (16.4 %), Knowledge of the disease module (25.2 %), and self-monitoring of blood glucose module (29.5 %). Among patients completing the Physical activity module, 79.0 % reported that they believed physical activity was useful, 35.0 % that it was easy, and 25.8 % that they regularly practised it. PRAC-Test results showed that OPTIMA was a useful and easy-to-use questionnaire that promotes communication between physicians and their patients according to 92.8 % of patients and 69.4 % of physicians.Conclusion: The OPTIMA questionnaire facilitates communication between patients and their physicians and promotes the set-up of micro-objectives concerning T2DM management. The Physical activity module was the most likely of the five modules in the questionnaire to lead to the set-up of SMART micro-objectives.Funding: MSD France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the efficacy of liraglutide observed in randomized controlled trials translates into therapeutic benefits in the French population during routine clinical practice.Methods: This observational, prospective, multicenter study included 3152 adults with type 2 diabetes who had recently started or were about to start liraglutide treatment. During 2 years of follow-up, an evaluation of the reasons for prescribing liraglutide, maintenance dose of liraglutide, changes in combined antidiabetic treatments, level of glycemic control, change in body weight and body mass index (BMI), patient satisfaction with diabetes treatment and safety of liraglutide were investigated. The primary study endpoint was the proportion of patients still receiving liraglutide and presenting with HbA1c <7.0% after 2 years of follow-up.Results: At the end of the study, 29.5% of patients maintained liraglutide treatment and reached the HbA(1c) target. Mean (±SD) HbA(1c), fasting plasma glucose concentration, body weight and BMI were significantly reduced from baseline [8.46% (±1.46) to 7.44% (±1.20); 180 (±60) to 146 (±44) mg/dL; 95.2 (±20.0) to 91.1 (±19.6) kg; 34.0 (±7.2) to 32.5 (±6.9) kg/m(2); respectively, all P < 0.0001]. Patient treatment satisfaction increased, with the mean diabetes treatment satisfaction questionnaire status version score increasing from 22.17 (±7.64) to 28.55 (±5.79), P < 0.0001. The main adverse event type was gastrointestinal, with a frequency of 10.9%, and the percentage of patients suffering ≥1 hypoglycemic episode decreased from 6.9% to 4.4%.Conclusion: The results of the EVIDENCE study suggest that the effectiveness of liraglutide in real-world clinical practice is similar to that observed in randomized controlled trials.Funding: Novo Nordisk A/S.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT01226966. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dapagliflozin (Forxiga®) is the first in a novel class of glucose-lowering agents known as sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and is used in the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes. By inhibiting the transporter protein SGLT2 in the kidneys, dapagliflozin reduces renal glucose reabsorption, leading to urinary glucose excretion and a reduction in blood glucose levels. Unlike oral antidiabetic drugs from several other classes, the efficacy of dapagliflozin is independent of insulin secretion and action. Therefore, when used in combination with other antidiabetic drugs, dapagliflozin provides complementary therapy via its unique mechanism of action. A consistent finding across phase III, randomized, double-blind trials in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes was that dapagliflozin 5 or 10 mg/day for 24 weeks as monotherapy in previously untreated patients, or as add-on combination therapy with metformin, glimepiride, pioglitazone or insulin-based therapy, significantly reduced both glycosylated haemoglobin values (primary endpoint) and fasting plasma glucose levels compared with placebo. Various randomized trials have also shown improvements in postprandial blood glucose with dapagliflozin monotherapy and combination therapy compared with placebo. In addition, dapagliflozin was noninferior to glipizide, in terms of glycaemic control after 52 weeks, when used as add-on therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes that was inadequately controlled with metformin. In most clinical trials, dapagliflozin was associated with reductions in body weight that were statistically superior to placebo or active comparators. Longer-term extension studies indicate that the efficacy of dapagliflozin is maintained for up to ~2 years. Dapagliflozin was generally well tolerated in clinical trials of 24 or 52 weeks duration and in extension studies of up to ~2 years. Events suggestive of genital infections and urinary tract infections occurred more frequently among dapagliflozin than placebo recipients. These adverse events are of special interest because they appear to be related to the mechanism of action of dapagliflozin. Dapagliflozin has a low propensity to cause hypoglycaemia, especially when used alone or in combination with metformin, although the incidence of hypoglycaemic events reported with dapagliflozin in clinical trials varied depending on the background therapy. Longer- term tolerability/safety data with dapagliflozin are awaited with interest. In conclusion, dapagliflozin, with its unique and complementary mechanism of action, appears to be an important addition to the therapeutic options for the management of type 2 diabetes, particularly when used as add-on therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have been shown to home to sites of breast cancer and integrate into the tumor stroma. We demonstrate here the effect of hMSCs on primary breast tumor growth and the progression of these tumors to hormone independence. Co-injection of bone marrow-derived hMSCs enhances primary tumor growth of the estrogen receptor-positive, hormone-dependent breast carcinoma cell line MCF-7 in the presence or absence of estrogen in SCID/beige mice. We also show hormone-independent growth of MCF-7 cells when co-injected with hMSCs. These effects were found in conjunction with increased immunohistochemical staining of the progesterone receptor in the MCF-7/hMSC tumors as compared to MCF-7 control tumors. This increase in PgR expression indicates a link between MCF-7 cells and MSCs through ER-mediated signaling. Taken together, our data reveal the relationship between tumor microenvironment and tumor growth and the progression to hormone independence. This tumor stroma-cell interaction may provide a novel target for the treatment of estrogen receptor-positive, hormone-independent, and endocrine-resistant breast carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The frequency of pancreaticoduodenal endocrine tumors in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) remains unknown. AIM: To evaluate prospectively with endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) the frequency of nonfunctioning (asymptomatic) pancreaticoduodenal tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: MEN1 patients without functioning pancreatic involvement underwent systematic pancreaticoduodenal EUS in nine GTE (Groupe des Tumeurs Endocrines) centers. Demographic and clinical factors predictive of pancreatic involvement were sought, and standardized biochemical measurements obtained. RESULTS: Between November 1997 and July 2004, 51 patients (median age: 39 [range: 16–71] yr) were studied. MEN1 had been diagnosed 3 [0–20] yr earlier, notably by genetic screening for 26 (51%) with asymptomatic disease. Twenty-five patients had minor biochemical anomalies (<2 × normal (N)) and serum somatostatin was 10.8 N in 1; EUS detected pancreatic lesions in 28 patients (54.9%; 95% CI: 41.3–68.7%). A median of three [1–9] tumors with a median diameter of 6 [2–60] mm was found per patient; for 19 (37.3%) patients a tumor measured ≥10 mm and ≥ 20 mm in 7 (13.7%) patients. Only one duodenal lesion was found and three patients had peripancreatic adenopathies. Pancreatic tumors were not associated with any of the studied parameters, notably age, family history, biochemical anomalies. Sixteen of twenty-six patients underwent EUS monitoring over 50 [12–70] months; six (37.5%) had more and/or larger pancreatic lesions. CONCLUSION: The frequency of nonfunctioning pancreatic endocrine tumors is higher (54.9%) than previously thought. The size and number of these tumors can increase over time. Pancreatic EUS should be performed once MEN1 is diagnosed to monitor disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/hypothesis. Improvements in islet transplantation require clinical series large enough to implement controlled new strategies. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of a multicentre network for islet transplantation in Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients. Methods. The five centres (Besançon, Geneva, Grenoble, Lyon, Strasbourg) of the GRAGIL network allow pancreas procurement, recipient recruitment, transplantation procedure and follow-up. Islet isolation is, however, performed in one single laboratory (Geneva). Pancreata were procured in each of the five centres and transported to Geneva with an ischaemia time of less than 8 hours. Islets were isolated using a standard automated method. If the islet number was too low for a graft ( < 6000 Islet-equivalent /kg), islets were cultured up to 12 days until another isolation was possible. Islets were transplanted by percutaneous transhepatic intraportal injection. Immunosuppression consisted of cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofetil, steroids and an anti-interleukin 2 receptor antibody. Results. From March 1999 to June 2000, 56 pancreata procurements were performed with an average yield of 234 500 islet-equivalent, with 32 preparations over 200 000 islet-equivalent. Ten C-peptide negative Type I diabetic patients (5 men and 5 women, median age 44 years, median diabetes duration 29 years) with an established kidney graft ( > 6 months) received 9030 ± 1090 islet-equivalent/kg with a median purity of 63 %. The number of pancreata required for each graft was 1 (n = 5) or 2 (n = 5). At the completion of a 12 month follow-up, we observed 0 % primary nonfunction, 50 % graft survival and 20 % insulin-independence. Conclusions/interpretation. This study demonstrates the interest and the feasibility of a multicentre collaboration in human islet transplantation. [Diabetologia (2001) 44: 859–864] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An original pH-probe now permits continuous and in situ control of H ions in the blood vessels of mammals, especially during hypercapnic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]