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Resume La plupart des personnes âgees souffrant d’une dependance physique ou intellectuelle demandent de l’aide. Toutefois, certaines personnes encore autonomes se comportent comme si elles etaient dependantes. Elles demandent le soutien d’un proche et sollicitent sa presence par tous les moyens. Leur comportement d’appel epuise leur entourage et peut engendrer des troubles severes. Un groupe de psychologues praticiens et universitaires a entrepris un travail de reflexion clinique visant a cerner les origines et les consequences de cette dependance de nature affective a partir d’entretiens realises en institution. more...

Mutations in glucokinase are associated with defects in insulin secretion and hepatic glycogen synthesis resulting in mild chronic hyperglycaemia, impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes mellitus. We screened members of 35 families with features of maturity-onset diabetes of the young for mutations in the glucokinase gene and found 16 different mutations. They included 14 new mutations in the glucokinase gene: 9 missense mutations (A53S, G80A, H137R, T168P, M210T, C213R, V226M, S336L and V367M); 2 nonsense mutations (E248X and S360X); a deletion of one nucleotide resulting in a frameshift (V401del1); a substitution of a conserved nucleotide at a splice acceptor site (L122-1G-->T); and a 10 base pair deletion that removed the GT of the splice donor site and the following eight nucleotides (K161 + 2del10). In addition, we found two previously identified mutations: R186X and G261R. Study of 260 subjects with glucokinase-deficient hyperglycaemia from 42 families with 36 different GCK mutations made it possible to define the clinical profile of this subtype of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Hyperglycaemia due to glucokinase deficiency is often mild (fewer than 50% of subjects have overt diabetes) and is evident during the early years of life. Despite the long duration of hyperglycaemia, glucokinase-deficient subjects have a low prevalence of micro- and macro-vascular complications of diabetes. Obesity, arterial hypertension and dyslipidaemia are also uncommon in this form of NIDDM. more...

LOCI in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on chromo-some 6 and the insulin (INS) region on chromosome 11 have been implicated in susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) through candidate gene investigations1–5, but they may account for less than 50% of genetic risk for the disease6. Genome-wide linkage studies have led to localization of more than 10 sus-ceptibility loci for insulin-dependent diabetes in the non-obese dia-betic (NOD) mouse7 and the BB rat8. Similar studies are now possible in humans through the development of dense genetic maps of highly informative microsatellite loci obtained using polymerase chain reaction analysis9. We have applied microsatellite markers from recent Genethon maps10,11, and other highly informative mar-kers, in a genome-wide linkage study in IDDM. Here we report evidence for the localization of a previously undetected suscept-ibility locus for IDDM in the region of the FGF3 gene on chromo-some llq. Our result shows the potential of genome-wide linkage studies to detect susceptibility loci in IDDM and other multifactor-ial disorders. more...

Finland and Sweden have the highest incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes in children in the world, about 3-4 times that of countries in the Mediterranean area, with the exception of Sardinia. We have collected information from several European clinics and from Pittsburgh, USA, in order to find out whether this difference incidence is associated with corresponding differences of the disease pattern. Patients in Finland or Sweden ('North') and Pittsburgh were younger (10 years old) at diagnosis compared with those in the other clinics in Europe (P0.05 versus P0.02). In the North, boys were in excess (58%) in contrast to France (40%) and Pittsburgh (46%). Patients in the North had a shorter duration of symptoms (8 days; P0.001) and higher blood glucose (20 mmol/l; P0.05) than those attending the other European clinics. Irrespective of age, there were more ICA-positive patients in the North (94%) than in Berlin-Vienna (67%; P0.01) or in France (70%; P0.01). There was a tendency for non-diabetic parents and siblings in the North to have lower C-peptide values (0.26 pmol/ml) at the time of diagnosis of the proband and to be ICA-positive more often than relatives in the other European clinics. The seasonal variation of diagnosis showed no obvious geographical differences, with recorded diagnosis always lowest during the summer. We conclude that certain factors seem to cause not only a high incidence of diabetes in children in Finland and Sweden but perhaps also a more aggressive early disease process. more...

A class of alleles at the VNTR (variable number of tandem repeat) locus in the 5' region of the insulin gene (INS) on chromosome 11p is associated with increased risk of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), but family studies have failed to demonstrate linkage. INS is thought to contribute to IDDM susceptibility but this view has been difficult to reconcile with the lack of linkage evidence. We thus investigated polymorphisms of INS and neighbouring loci in random diabetics, IDDM multiplex families and controls. HLA-DR4-positive diabetics showed an increased risk associated with common variants at polymorphic sites in a 19-kilobase segment spanned by the 5' INS VNTR and the third intron of the gene for insulin-like growth factor II (IGF2). As INS is the major candidate gene from this region, diabetic and control sequence were compared to identify all INS polymorphisms that could contribute to disease susceptibility. In multiplex families the IDDM-associated alleles were transmitted preferentially to HLA-DR4-positive diabetic offspring from heterozygous parents. The effect was strongest in paternal meioses, suggesting a possible role for maternal imprinting. Our results strongly support the existence of a gene or genes affecting HLA-DR4 IDDM susceptibility which is located in a 19-kilobase region of INS-IGF2. Our results also suggest new ways to map susceptibility loci in other common diseases. more...

This review describes the characteristics and evaluates the psychometric qualities (process of testing and the results) of thirteen delirium instruments. Delirium instruments differ in goal (diagnosis, screening symptoms severity), type of data on which the rating is based (observation, interview or test of patients), the rater qualities required, the number of items and the rating time needed. Most instruments are based on the Diagnostic Statistical Manual criteria and measure signs and symptoms as described by these criteria. Reliability of delirium instruments shows good to excellent results. Validity of the delirium instruments is overall fair to good. Differences exist, however, in the degree to which reliability and validity were tested and the quality of the testing procedures. Most instruments are not further developed and tested after the initial study. Conclusion of this review is that most delirium instruments show promising results but need further testing. Testing is needed in different samples and on a broader range of aspects with regard to reliability and validity. Much emphasis should be given to the procedures used in future studies. Ease of use is an aspect of testing that is so far not taken into account, however, is important for use of instruments in clinical practice.A minority of instruments can be seen as “ready to use” instruments meaning well tested in more than one sample with good results. For screening high-risk, elderly hospitalized patients, the NEECHAM Confusion Scale and the Delirium Observation Screening Scale are recommended. The Confusion Assessment Method is the best diagnostic tool and the Delirium Rating Scale shows best results in screening symptom severity. For ICU patients the CAM-ICU is recommended. The MDAS is well tested in cancer patients. Nurses, however, have not yet tested the DRS and MDAS in practice. more...

The relationship between altered insulin secretion and impaired glucose tolerance was studied in 32 non-obese subjects aged 14-49 years with islet-cell antibodies (ICA) and fasting blood glucose below 7.9 mmol/l, using oral (OGTT) and intravenous (IVGTT) glucose tolerance tests. Glucose tolerance was normal in 19 subjects, impaired (IGT) in 4 and satisfied diabetic criteria in 9. Fifteen of these subjects and 8 ICA-negative controls also underwent a hyperglycaemic clamp (10 mmol/l) and a glucose-potentiated IV arginine bolus. Acute insulin response to IVGTT and insulin and C-peptide responses to the hyperglycaemic clamp and the arginine bolus were dramatically lower (p0.001) in diabetic and IGT subjects than in ICA-positive patients with normal glucose tolerance and control subjects. Insulin responses to the three tests were inversely correlated with plasma glucose levels and the area under the curve of OGTT. The correlations between the degree of glucose tolerance and insulin responses to IVGTT, the hyperglycaemic clamp and the arginine bolus were virtually identical. It is concluded that insulin responses to the three stimuli were severely altered in ICA-positive patients with impaired glucose tolerance or asymptomatic diabetes, normal in normotolerant ICA-positive subjects, and correlated with glucose tolerance. more...

This study presents the results of HLA-DRB1, -DQA1, and -DQB1 sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe (SSOP) typings for a population sample of 47 individuals originating from Western Algeria. Allele and haplotype frequencies, as well as linkage disequilibria are computed by the standard methods used for the XIth International Histocompatibility Workshop data. A total of 24 alleles are detected at the DRB1 locus, where a very high heterozygosity level (0.914) is found. The highest DRB1 frequencies are 0.160, DRB1*1101, and 0.138, for DRB1*0301 and DRB1*0701. The DQA1 and DQB1 loci are less polymorphic. Among the 8 DQA1 alleles detected, DQA1*0501 is highly predominant with a frequency of 0.383. Thirteen DQB1 alleles are observed among which DQB1*0301 and DQB1*0201 are the most frequent (0.351 and 0.245, respectively). Three haplotypes predominate clearly: DRB1*1101-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0301 (0.138), DRB1*0701-DQA1*0201-DQB1*0201 (0.128) and DRB1*0301-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 (0.117). The two latter are among the most frequent haplotypes found in European and North American Caucasoid populations, but the DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 association is not significant in Algerians. The genetic distances computed for each locus among a set of populations from different continents are significantly correlated to geography. They indicate that the Algerians are very close to South European populations, particularly to Sardinians, Italians, Romanians and French, with some intermediate characteristics between Europeans and sub-Saharan Africans. These results may serve as reference for future studies of HLA and disease in the Algerian population. more...

Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in Caucasians is strongly associated with HLA-DR3-DQ2 and DR4-DQ8. In order to investigate the HLA class II associations with IDDM in Algerians, we have used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence specific oligonucleotide analysis (SSO) to identify DQA1, DQB1, and DRB1 alleles, haplotypes and genotypes in 50 unrelated IDDM patients and 46 controls from a homogeneous population in Western Algeria. Both DRB1*0301-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 (DR3-DQ2) and DRB1*04-DQA1*0301-DQB1*0302 (DR4-DQ8) haplotypes were found at increased frequencies among the patients compared to controls (45% vs. 13%, RR = 5.5, Pc < 10(-5) and 37% vs. 4%, RR = 12.9, Pc < 10(-4), respectively). Among the latter, in contrast to other Caucasian populations, only DRB1*0405-DQA1*0301-DQB1*0302 was significantly increased in the Algerian patients (25% vs. 1% in controls, RR = 30.3, Pc < 10(-3). Accordingly, the highest risk of disease was observed in DRB1*0301-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201/DRB1*0405-DQA1+ ++*0301-DQB1*0302 heterozygotes (34% in patients vs. 0% in controls; RR = 49; Pc < 10(-3). This observation and its comparison with DR-DQ haplotypes in other ethnic groups suggest that the DRB1*0405 allele which encodes an Asp57-negative beta chain may contribute to IDDM susceptibility in a similar way as Asp57-negative DQ beta chains. more...

The distribution of HLA class II alleles associated with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (Type 1) in the Algerian population is poorly known. We have typed 36 Algerian Type 1 diabetic probands and their families using DQA1 and DQB1 oligonucleotide probes. Fifty-nine parental haplotypes non transmitted to diabetic offspring served as controls. The frequencies of DQA1 and DQB1 alleles and haplotypes and their associations with Type 1 diabetes were, except minor differences, similar to those reported in French. Susceptibility DQA1 (Arg52+) and DQB1 (Asp57-) alleles were significantly increased among patients versus controls (90% vs 53%, RR = 8.4, p10(-6), and 94% vs 64%, RR = 9.4, p10(-5), respectively). 85% of Type 1 diabetics versus 34% of control haplotypes were either DR3DQw2 or DR4DQw8 susceptibility haplotypes (DQA1 Arg52+, DQB1 Asp57-) (RR = 10.8, p10(-7). 75% of the probands vs 14% of the controls (RR = 18, p10(-5)) and 73% of affected siblings versus 24% of unaffected siblings (RR = 8.4, p0.02) possessed a genotype composed of these two susceptibility haplotypes in the homozygous or heterozygous state. 42% of the probands were DR3DQw2/DR4DQw8, corresponding to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. The lack of excess of heterozygotes could be due to the consanguine families in this sample, as among the patients with consanguine parents the frequency of DR3, 4 heterozygotes was lower (27% vs 48% in non-consanguine patients, NS) and that of DR3 homozygotes increased (45% vs 12%, respectively, p0.03).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) more...

Major determinants of susceptibility to Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes (IDDM) have been mapped to the HLA complex, near to or identical with genes encoding class II molecules. The association of IDDM with HLA-DR3 and/or DR4 antigens and the highest risk for DR3/4 heterozygotes suggest a synergistic effect of the two haplotypes. The characterization at the molecular level of the class II region has provided evidence that DQ rather than DR determinants may primarily influence the disease. In caucasians the susceptibility strongly correlates with the absence of aspartic acid at position 57 on the DQ beta chain and/or the presence of arginine at position 52 on the DQ alpha chain. The formation of a putative DQ susceptibility molecule (DQ alpha Arg52+, DQ beta Asp57-) accounts best for the disease associations when trans-complementation between alpha and beta chains encoded by different haplotypes is postulated to explain the excess of heterozygotes. Observations in other populations and in animal models indicate, however, that other residues on DQ alpha and beta chains, other class II (DR beta) molecules and non-HLA linked genes also contribute to the susceptibility. The mechanism(s) by which susceptibility determinants influence IDDM is not known. It is probably in relation with the role of class II molecules in the antigen presentation to T lymphocytes. more...

Eighty unrelated diabetic children, seventy healthy controls and hundred and ten affected and unaffected first-degree relatives of twenty multiplex families were investigated by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of HLA class II genes using five probe/enzyme systems: DRB and DQB/Taq I, DRB and DQB/EcoRI and DQB/BamHI according to standard procedures described in the 10th Histocompatibility Workshop protocol. Comparison between the unrelated diabetic patients and the controls confirmed the positive association of type 1 diabetes with DR3(w17)DQw2 Dw24 or Dw25 and DR4DQw8 and the negative association with DR2(w15)DQw6, DR4DQw7 and DR7DQw2 haplotypes. In multiplex families, similar allele associations were found and the distinction between haplotypes present in diabetic patients and those that segregated to healthy family members allowed to observe striking differences between the "affected" and "unaffected" haplotypes, particularly for the subtypes of DR3(w17) DQw2, DR4DQw3 and DR2DQw1 haplotypes. Heterozygous siblings who carried both DR3DQw2 and DR4DQw8 subtypes disclosed a highly increased risk and more than 80% of DR3/DR4 affected siblings received a paternal DR4DQw8 together with a maternal DR3DQw2. These observations indicate that several genetic aspects influence susceptibility to type 1 diabetes: 1) some particular HLA class II subsets; 2) the parental origin of the predisposing genes; 3) the synergistic effect of both haplotypes, in particular DR3DQw2 and DR4DQw8. These results may help to better specify susceptibility markers for risk prediction in siblings. more...

Two per cent of "diabetic" children actually exhibit a specific condition which is not a disease in the conventional acceptance of the term. Characteristics of this biologic anomaly, whose pathophysiology is as yet incompletely understood, include the absence of clinical manifestations, with the diagnosis being established upon routine tests (e.g., as part of a school health check-up or during screening tests in family members of diabetics); blood glucose levels or glucose tolerance test results consistently above the 97th percentile of reference values, with some degree of variation over time; normal serum insulin levels; glycosylated hemoglobin levels usually near the upper limit of normal; dominant autosomal inheritance; lack of association with either HLA markers or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; lack of microvascular degenerative disease, at least in this study group, even after more than 30 years follow-up; lack of progression towards insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. more...

The mechanism of pancreatic beta-cell destruction in type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus (IDDM) involves autoimmune events directed against these cells. Anti-beta-cell autoimmunity occurs in genetically predisposed individuals and may precede clinical manifestations of IDDM by several years. Markers for beta-cell autoimmunity, especially islet-cell antibodies, are being used with increasing reliability both for detection of IDDM and for evaluating the risk of development of the disease. HLA alleles associated with IDDM include DR3 and DR4, with the risk of IDDM being especially high in individuals with the heterozygous combination DR3/DR4. Recent advances in molecular biology have resulted in more accurate identification of genetic variants and even of amino acid sequences associated with IDDM. These markers can be used to identify patients with genetic susceptibility to the disease. The mechanism of action of genes associated with IDDM is as yet unknown but probably involves the receptor function of HLA molecules for antigens during immune responses. more...

Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) has a complex pattern of genetic inheritance. In addition to genes mapping to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), several lines of evidence point to the existence of other genetic susceptibility factors. Recent studies of the nonobese diabetic mouse (NOD) model of IDDM have suggested the presence, on mouse chromosome 9, of a susceptibility gene linked to the locus encoding the T-cell antigen, Thy-1. A region on human chromosome 11q is syntenic to this region on mouse chromosome 9. We have used a set of polymorphic DNA markers from chromosome 11q to investigate this region for linkage to a susceptibility gene in 81 multiplex diabetic pedigrees. The data were investigated by maximization of lod scores over genetic models and by multiple-locus affected-sib-pair analysis. We were able to exclude the presence of a susceptibility gene (location scores less than -2) throughout greater than 90% of the chromosome 11q homology region, under the assumption that the susceptibility factor would cause greater than 50% of affected sib pairs to share two alleles identical by descent. Theoretical estimates of the power to map susceptibility genes with a high-resolution map of linked markers in a candidate region were made, using HLA as a model locus. This result illustrates the feasibility that IDDM linkage studies using mapped sets of polymorphic DNA markers have, both for other areas of the genome in IDDM and for other polygenic diseases. The analytic approaches introduced here will be useful for affected-sib-pair studies of other complex phenotypes. more...

In order to study the capacity of the first phase insulin response (FPIR) for predicting insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM), we have performed one or more intravenous glucose tolerance tests (IVGTT) and determined islet-cell antibodies (ICA) and HLA-types in 220 first degree relatives of IDDM patients (194 siblings, 26 offsprings) aged 2 to 29 years. They were prospectively followed for periods ranging from 18 months to 8 years. The immunological and metabolic changes in 9 subjects who have developed IDDM or impaired glucose tolerance during the study and in 3 ICA-positive non-diabetic subjects were compared to those in ICA-negative subjects. Although the mean FPIR (1 + 3 min. plasma insulin) was significantly lower in ICA-positive compared with ICA-negative subjects, a unique low FPIR had no predictive value at the individual level. At repeated tests, the two groups followed distinctive evolutive patterns: ICA-negative subjects usually had higher FPIRs at a 2nd test, while FPIRs remained low or still decreased in ICA-positive subjects. Follow-up of subjects at high risk showed good concordance between the different predictive factors: among the 9 subjects who have developed IDDM, 7 had persisting ICA, 8 were HLA-DR3, DR4; the FPIR was consistently low in 3 and low at least once in 4. Progressive loss of the FPIR allowing to predict the time of onset of IDDM, was not observed. more...

Family and population studies indicate that predisposition to insulin-dependent (type I) diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is polygenic. It has been shown that the absence of the aspartic acid in position 57 (Asp57) of the DQ beta chain is positively correlated to IDDM. However, Asp57-negative haplotypes do not always confer susceptibility and conversely, some Asp57-positive haplotypes seem to be disease associated. It has been suggested that other HLA class II sequences, probably belonging to the HLA DQA1 gene, confer susceptibility to IDDM. This report, based on extensive oligonucleotide dot blot hybridization of PCR-amplified DQA1 and DQB1 genes, reinforces the importance of the Asp57-negative DQ beta chain, but also introduces the possibility that a DQ alpha chain bearing an arginine in position 52 (Arg52) confers susceptibility to IDDM. A molecular model of susceptibility to IDDM is proposed. This model strongly suggests that the disease susceptibility correlates quantitatively with the expression at the cell surface of a heterodimer, composed of a DQ alpha-chain bearing an Arg52 and a DQ beta chain lacking an Asp57. In view of the respective positions of the two residues and their charge, we might anticipate that both residues DQ beta Asp57 and DQ alpha Arg52 are critical for modulation of susceptibility, presumably via viral-antigenic peptide and/or autoantigen presentation. more...

The mechanism of pancreatic B-cell destruction in type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes (IDDM) involves autoimmune phenomena based on genetic predisposition. The mechanism of action of the susceptibility genes is probably related to the function of the HLA molecules in the immune response. The genetic susceptibility is distinguished by increased frequency of the HLA antigens DR3 and DR4 and particularly their heterozygous combination DR3/DR4. Recent advances in molecular biology have resulted in a more precise definition of the genetic variants and corresponding amino acid sequences associated with IDDM. These markers may identify subjects at risk of developing the disease. However, the signs of islet-specific autoimmunity, e.g. islet-cell antibodies, which may be detected several years before the clinical onset of IDDM, are of greater predictive value. These and other arguments in favour of an autoimmune pathogenesis of type I diabetes have made preventive immunotherapy a goal for the future. more...

We have proposed a molecular model of susceptibility to Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) based on the proportional expression at the cell surface of the following susceptible (S-S) HLA-DQ heterodimere composed of a chain DQ alpha Arg 52 positive (S) and a chain HLA-DQ beta Asp 57 negative (S). All other DQ alpha/beta chains associations are considered as protective molecules. This model allows a predictive scale of risk for the disease. more...

In order to precise the prevalence and incidence of IDDM in a well characterized population, we have ascertained between 1979 and 1988 all juvenile diabetic patients living in the department of Oran (Wilaya of Oran), Algeria, aged less than 20 years at the date of Dec. 31th 1988 who had onset of the disease before 15 years old. Cross comparisons of the data obtained both by a IDDM registry and a questionnaire sent to the practitioners show an excellent correlation. A total of 173 families was studied, including 155 Simplex Families (SF), and 18 Multiplex Families (MF). The prevalence was 0.27 p. 1000 among children aged less than 15 years. The annual incidence (mean = 4.4 p. 100,000) increased regularly from 1.6 p. 100,000 in 1981 to 8.1 p. 100,000 in 1988. The prevalence of IDDM among siblings was 3.8%. The birth order of index cases (first affected siblings) was lower in MF (3.0 +/- 0.4) than both in index cases of SF (4.0 +/- 0.3; p less than 0.01) and in secondary affected siblings of MF (4.8 +/- 0.05; p less than 0.001). The frequency of 2nd degree consanguineous marriages (between first cousins) was greater among the IDDM families compared with control families: 25% vs 11% (RR = 2.9; p less than 0.001). more...

The information and counselling of diabetic patients and their families requires for the practitioner to know about some fundamental aspects of diabetes and in particular, to distinguish between the different types of diabetes with different causes, pathogenetic mechanism and modes of inheritance. Recent developments in the fields of immunogenetics have improved the understanding of type I diabetes, an auto-immune disease associated with HLA and made possible the identification of genetically susceptible individuals. The etiology of type II diabetes, by far the most frequent form, remains unknown. In the absence of genetical markers, the screening of predisposed subjects is, however, useful in order to propose preventive measures. more...

The association of certain HLA-D alleles with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is well known. One hundred and sixty-one non-related diabetic individuals and 142 non-related healthy controls were typed for the HLA DR-DQw-Dw association, using a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing method that combines three probe/enzyme systems: DRB/Taq I, DQB/Taq I, and DQB/Bam HI. Comparison of frequencies in both diabetics and controls confirms previous results in terms of HLA class II and IDDM association. Moreover, we have found that DR3/4 heterozygous individuals are more susceptible to IDDM when they are also Dw25 (associated with B18) than when they are Dw24 (associated with B8). Using oligonucleotide dot-blot hybridizations we analyzed the HLA-DQB1 sequence of DR3, Dw24 and DR3, Dw25 homozygous individuals, and we found no difference at position 57 between these two DR3-carrying haplotypes. This observation points to the heterogeneity of HLA genetic factors in IDDM susceptibility. more...

SUMMARY A model with a susceptibility gene unlinked to HLA but in interaction with this system is shown to fit the data on familial distribution in 30 multiplex families of juvenile insulin-dependent diabetes. more...

To improve understanding of the relationships between gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and insulin secretion and food intake in obesity, immunoreactive insulin and immunoreactive GIP were measured in 5 obese children during PO glucose tolerance test carried out before and after diet. Before diet, mean insulin levels were normal at fasting and rose after glucose ingestion. The mean fasting immunoreactive GIP level was very high (1235 +- 209 pg/ml) compared to that of 8 healthy adult controls (411 +/- 44 pg/ml) and remained at this level throughout the test. There was only a short postabsorptive rise to 1515 +/- 158 pg/ml at 30 min, which was not significantly different either from the patients' basal values or from the 30-min control values (1356 +/- 67 pg/ml). After dieting for 3 to 7 months, immunoreactive insulin responses returned to normal ranges. Concomitantly, both basal and total GIP release diminished significantly (basal GIP, 343 +/- 92 pg/ml; area under the GIP curve, 3820 and 1694 pg/ml/hr before and after diet, respectively). The postabsorptive GIP increment, however, rose significantly from 180 pg/ml/hr, before diet, to 665 pg/ml/hr afterwards. These results might be compatible with the hypothesis that in obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and overactivity of the GIP cells are associated phenomena caused by overeating and reversed by reduced food intake. However, several contradictory findings remain unexplained. The discrepancy between insignificant postabsorptive GIP increments and elevated insulin responses before diet casts doubts on the causal relationship between GIP and insulin secretion. The small GIP rise might be due to a limited secretory capacity of the GIP cells or to a diminished stimulatory capacity of glucose. The constantly high level of GIP might reflect chronic hypersecretion and/or some defect in basal regulation and feedback control of GIP release. The change caused by dietary measures in the GIP secretion pattern provides evidence that in obese children, basal GIP secretion in influenced by nutritional factors. more...

Effects of Diet and Weight Loss on Plasma Glucose, Insulin, and Free Fatty Acids in Obese Children

In 158 obese children, aged from three months to 15 years, blood glucose, immunoreactive insulin, and free fatty acid levels were measured during a standard oral glucose tolerance test carried out prior to treatment. The results were analyzed for the total sample as well as for three age groups: 0–5 years, 6–10 years, and 11–15 years and compared with those of 70 normal-weight children matched for age and sex. Glucose tolerance is normal in the obese children. It is different from the controls only two hours after glucose loading, when a slight but significant elevation is found. The glucose levels at one and two hours are significantly higher in the obese children of group III than in the younger ones. Fasting F.F.A. levels are similar in normal and obese children, but the F.F.A. decrease following glucose absorption is significantly diminished in the obese. The F.F.A. levels of the youngest obese are significantly higher than those of the older ones. A constant and important hyperinsulinism, fasting and postabsorptive, is demonstrated in obese children of all ages, even before five years and at the beginning of obesity. Age- and sex-related differences in insulin secretion are much more marked in the obese than in normal children. The degree of hyperinsulinemia is related to the degree of obesity, but not to its duration. The results suggest that hyperinsulinism is associated with obesity from its onset rather than being a long-term consequence of overweight. However, the origin of hyperinsulinism in obesity and the mechanism of insulin resistance still remain obscure. more...

54 normal Caucasian families and 169 families in whom at least one child had type I diabetes (IDDM) were genotyped for HLA-A, B, C, DR and for the complement factors Bf and C4. The paternal and maternal transmission of the different alleles and of haplotypes and complotypes in linkage desequilibrium have been analysed. No distortion of the paternal transmission has been observed in the offspring of the two series of families. On the contrary, a distortion of the maternal segregation of the silent alleles at the complement factor C4A and B locus was found: mothers transmitted C4AQ0 more often than expected to their male offspring (p less than 0.04 in normal families, p less than 0.001 in IDDM families) while they transmitted C4BQ0 in excess to their female offspring (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.03 in normal and IDDM families, respectively). more...

In order to identify factors other than the HLA-linked susceptibility involved in the risk to the siblings of diabetic children, we compared the age at onset, birth order and HLA genotypes in 23 IDD multiplex (Mx) families and 140 simplex (Sx) families. The results showed a relationship between age and recurrence risk in sibs. Probands (= 1st affected sibs) of Mx families were significantly younger at onset (5.8 +/- 0.8 yr) than probands of Sx families (9.0 +/- 0.4 yr, p less than 0.01). The 2nd affected sibs of Mx families, although affected at an older age (12.4 +/- 1.6 yr), had been significantly younger at the time of the proband's onset, than the siblings who have remained unaffected (6.2 +/- 1.2 vs 11.5 +/- 0.5 yr, p less than 0.01). Probands of Mx families were more often the first born and probands of Sx families, more often came later in the birth order (p less than 0.02). Prevalence of IDD was higher among siblings born after than among those born before the proband (12% vs 4%, p less than 0.002). The HLA haplotype distribution in unaffected siblings deviated from the random assortment in relation to birth order, showing an excess of HLA-identical sibs born before the proband and, inversely, an excess of non-identical sibs born after the proband. The results suggest that age-dependent factors are likely to increase the penetrance of HLA-linked IDD susceptibility. These factors could be related to the environmental insult. However, a genetically determined form of type I diabetes characterized by higher familial penetrance and earlier onset cannot be ruled out. more...

One hundred and thirty-three insulin-dependent diabetic (IDD) patients were genotyped for HLA-A, B, C, DR and 123 of them for Bf. The study shows a relationship between these genes and the age of onset of diabetes and emphasizes the possible heterogeneity of the disease. When patients under the age of 0 years at the onset of the disease were compared with those aged 11 to 29 years, a significant excess of HLA-B18 (41% versus 15%, p less than 0.001) and BfF1 (40% versus 21%, P less than 0.05) was observed. The haplotype B18, BfF1 was also more frequent in the first group of patients (haplotype frequency 18% versus 6%, p less than 0.02). The frequency of the whole haplotype Cw5, B18, BfF1, DR3 and of its segment BfF1, DR3, and the strength of the gametic associations between these alleles were much higher in IDD patients than in non-diabetic controls, irrespective of the age of onset of their diabetes. The association between early age of onset of IDD and the B18, BfF1 haplotype independently of DR3 (no association between age and DR3) suggests that a factor influencing the onset of the disease in young children could be under the control of (1) gene (s) in linkage disequilibrium with B18 and/or BfF1. more...

In 70 healthy children aged from three months to 15 years, blood glucose, immunoreactive insulin, and free fatty acids were measured during a three-hour glucose tolerance test. The results are presented for the whole group as well as for three age groups: three months-five years, six-10 years, and 11–15 years. It is demonstrated that (1) glucose levels are significantly lower in young children (younger than five years); (2) there are no significant age-related changes in free fatty acid concentration; (3) insulin levels are increasing constantly and significantly with age, the most strikingly at the age of onset of puberty; the absence of notable changes in glucose tolerance results in a rise of the I/G ratio as well. The causes for the increase of insulin secretion with age, whether of peripheral or pancreatic order, are still speculative. more...

A significant increase in basic and post-stimulation insulin secretion was observed in 173 obese children undergoing oral glucose tolerance tests. The hyperinsulinism, which was not related to hyperclycemia, was more important in older and heavier children. It was also observed however in younger children since the onset of obesity. It may therefore play a role in the maintenance of the obesity but also in its development. Various hypothesis to explain the origin of this hyperinsulinism and the adaptation of the system to it are discussed. more...

The presence of HLA-DR 3 was analysed in 745 patients with Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes with age at diagnosis between 1-19 years. HLA-DR 3 and/or 4 was found in 678/745 (91%) of the patients. Presence of DR2 with neither DR 3 nor 4 was demonstrated in 15 patients. Patients with HLA-DR 3 without DR 4 presented with Type 1 diabetes more evenly over the year; they also presented without incidence peaks at 7 years or 10-11 years, as seen especially in DR 3/4 patients. The DR 3 patients more often had mild disease with less ketonuria at diagnosis, less often ketoacidotic symptoms and more often a subsequent partial remission. The apparently more severe disease among diabetic girls may, at least to some extent, be explained by their higher prevalence of HLA-DR 4. The differences found were similar in North America and Europe. The results suggest that Type 1 diabetes is a genetically heterogeneous disease and that HLA-typing may be a useful marker of this heterogeneity. more...

A longitudinal study of 103 cases of renal glycosuria (94 families) led to the following conclusions. 1. When the condition is genetically determined, it is probably inherited as an autosomal recessive. 2. There is no relationship with diabetes mellitus. 3. The renal glycosuria is persistent but does not get worse. more...

The relative risks (RR) of the immunogenetic markers of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) have been calculated in a population of 235 IDDM patients compared with a control population. The highest relative risk was that of subjects heterozygous DR3/DR4 (RR = 47, P less than 0.001) which was still more increased in those who carry this combination associated with the RFLP cluster DQR4 (RR = 72). Further, a sample of 51 secondary affected siblings of IDD index cases has been compared with 265 non affected siblings (one child of each family, excluding index cases). The highest risks have been found in addition to DR3/DR4, for DR3 alone and particularly for the combination C4BQ0, DR3 (RR = 9, p less than 0.001) suggesting a role for this peculiar association in the familial penetrance. In the group of siblings HLA-identical with the index case, only two factors showed some capacity of discriminating between affected and non affected siblings: HLA-DR3 and age (less than or equal to 10 years old at onset of IDDM in the index case) (p less than 0.01). In the group of haploidentical siblings, the combination DR3/DR4 and the associations C4BQ0, DR3 and BfF1, DR3 significantly increased the susceptibility for higher familial occurrence of the disease. If confirmed by additional family series, this scale of risk factors could be helpful in predicting risk of IDDM to siblings of diabetic children. more...

Insulin secretion is partially regulated by hormonal and nervous signals arising from the duodenum. To ascertain the role of absorption through the villi on insulin secretion, the blood levels of immunoreactive insulin (IRI) in 13 normal children (T) were compared with those in 13 with flat jejunal mucosae (MJP). The bowel was stimulated by the infusion of Nutramigen direct into the duodenum at 4 ml/mn m2. In the control group (T) IRI increased from the 10th minute of the perfusion to reach a plateau after the first hour (256 +/- 107 pmol/l). In the MJP group the rise of IRI was delayed and the plateau lower (169 +/- 25 pmol/1) but the difference in the two groups was not statistically significant. During the first 10 minutes when there is no significant change in blood glucose levels IRI levels increased in the T group (p less than 0.01) but there was no significant change in the MJP group. These results suggest that when villi are intact stimulation of the duodenum causes insulin secretion; but when there are no villi, there is a delay in the secretion. more...

Three main concepts came out of this prospective study of 103 cases (51 girls and 52 boys) of renal diabetes followed up from 1955 to 1975 and reviewed in 1984: contrary to what is still sometimes written, renal diabetes does not evolve to diabetes mellitus; renal diabetes does not seem to progress over the years; the mode of genetic transmission, when present, which is rare, is obscure but it seems to occur in a recessive rather than a dominant fashion. more...

We report the clinical records of 45 children with abnormalities regarding glycemic regulation characterized by a non-insulin deficient hyperglycemia (NIDH), known under the different names of chemical diabetes, sub-clinical diabetes and more recently MODY. These 45 children belong to 31 families with 532 relatives comprising 137 cases of NIDH which could have been studied. The symptoms of this biochemical abnormality, the pathophysiology of which is not yet clearly understood, are the following: lack of clinical manifestations, except for a variable and intermittent glycosuria; constant abnormal glucose tolerance tests, above 97 percentiles of the reference value with some variations over time; normal immunoreactive insulin levels; percentage of glycosylated hemoglobin at the upper range of normal; dominant autosomal genetic transmission and no association with HLA markers like in insulin-dependent diabetes; lack of degenerative complications of the micro-angiopathic type, at least on these cases even after more than 30 years of follow-up; finally, no tendency towards insulin-dependent diabetes. The NIDH should not be confused with the slow and progressive beginning of insulin-dependent diabetes for which prolonged delay is needed to affirm the diagnosis. The frequency of the biochemical phenomena is about 1.8% of the cases of authentic diabetes mellitus occurring before the age of 15. more...