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\"Military professionalism is inherently linked to military culture, which centres on the collective activities and distinctive practices of armed forces, as well as an understanding of shared goals and how they are achieved\" -- Back cover.

Innate immunity contributes to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, but until now no randomised, controlled trials of blockade of the key innate immune mediator interleukin-1 have been done. We aimed to assess whether canakinumab, a human monoclonal anti-interleukin-1 antibody, or anakinra, a human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, improved β-cell function in recent-onset type 1 diabetes. We did two randomised, placebo-controlled trials in two groups of patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes and mixed-meal-tolerance-test-stimulated C peptide of at least 0·2 nM. Patients in the canakinumab trial were aged 6–45 years and those in the anakinra trial were aged 18–35 years. Patients in the canakinumab trial were enrolled at 12 sites in the USA and Canada and those in the anakinra trial were enrolled at 14 sites across Europe. Participants were randomly assigned by computer-generated blocked randomisation to subcutaneous injection of either 2 mg/kg (maximum 300 mg) canakinumab or placebo monthly for 12 months or 100 mg anakinra or placebo daily for 9 months. Participants and carers were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was baseline-adjusted 2-h area under curve C-peptide response to the mixed meal tolerance test at 12 months (canakinumab trial) and 9 months (anakinra trial). Analyses were by intention to treat. These studies are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, numbers NCT00947427 and NCT00711503, and EudraCT number 2007-007146-34. Patients were enrolled in the canakinumab trial between Nov 12, 2010, and April 11, 2011, and in the anakinra trial between Jan 26, 2009, and May 25, 2011. 69 patients were randomly assigned to canakinumab (n=47) or placebo (n=22) monthly for 12 months and 69 were randomly assigned to anakinra (n=35) or placebo (n=34) daily for 9 months. No interim analyses were done. 45 canakinumab-treated and 21 placebo-treated patients in the canakinumab trial and 25 anakinra-treated and 26 placebo-treated patients in the anakinra trial were included in the primary analyses. The difference in C peptide area under curve between the canakinumab and placebo groups at 12 months was 0·01 nmol/L (95% CI −0·11 to 0·14; p=0·86), and between the anakinra and the placebo groups at 9 months was 0·02 nmol/L (–0·09 to 0·15; p=0·71). The number and severity of adverse events did not differ between groups in the canakinumab trial. In the anakinra trial, patients in the anakinra group had significantly higher grades of adverse events than the placebo group (p=0·018), which was mainly because of a higher number of injection site reactions in the anakinra group. Canakinumab and anakinra were safe but were not effective as single immunomodulatory drugs in recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Interleukin-1 blockade might be more effective in combination with treatments that target adaptive immunity in organ-specific autoimmune disorders. National Institutes of Health and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

OBJECTIVE:--β-Cell function in type 1 diabetes clinical trials is commonly measured by C-peptide response to a secretagogue in either a mixed-meal tolerance test (MMTT) or a glucagon stimulation test (GST). The Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet Research Group and the European C-peptide Trial (ECPT) Study Group conducted parallel randomized studies to compare the sensitivity, reproducibility, and tolerability of these procedures. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--In randomized sequences, 148 TrialNet subjects completed 549 tests with up to 2 MMTT and 2 GST tests on separate days, and 118 ECPT subjects completed 348 tests (up to 3 each) with either two MMTTs or two GSTs. RESULTS:--Among individuals with up to 4 years' duration of type 1 diabetes, >85% had measurable stimulated C-peptide values. The MMTT stimulus produced significantly higher concentrations of C-peptide than the GST. Whereas both tests were highly reproducible, the MMTT was significantly more so (R² = 0.96 for peak C-peptide response). Overall, the majority of subjects preferred the MMTT, and there were few adverse events. Some older subjects preferred the shorter duration of the GST. Nausea was reported in the majority of GST studies, particularly in the young age-group. CONCLUSIONS:--The MMTT is preferred for the assessment of β-cell function in therapeutic trials in type 1 diabetes.

The expression of interleukin-1–receptor antagonist is reduced in pancreatic islets in type 2 diabetes, and high glucose concentrations induce interleukin-1β production in human pancreatic beta cells, suggesting that the interleukin-1 pathway may be a treatment target. This randomized trial showed that the interleukin-1–receptor antagonist anakinra (100 mg) improved glycemia and beta-cell secretory function and reduced markers of systemic inflammation, as compared with placebo. This randomized trial showed that the interleukin-1–receptor antagonist anakinra improved glycemia and beta-cell secretory function and reduced markers of systemic inflammation, as compared with placebo. Type 2 diabetes mellitus occurs when beta-cell function fails to compensate for insulin resistance. 1 , 2 Beta-cell function progressively deteriorates with an increasing duration of diabetes, 3 partly because of beta-cell demise through apoptosis. 4 – 6 Interleukin-1β, a proinflammatory cytokine 7 implicated as an effector molecule of inflammatory beta-cell destruction leading to type 1 diabetes, 8 inhibits the function and promotes the apoptosis of beta cells. 9 Beta cells producing interleukin-1β have been observed in pancreatic sections obtained from patients with type 2 diabetes. 10 Depending on culture conditions, high glucose levels increase beta-cell production and the release of interleukin-1β, followed by functional impairment and apoptosis. 10 – . . .

OBJECTIVE: Interleukin (IL)-1 impairs insulin secretion and induces β-cell apoptosis. Pancreatic β-cell IL-1 expression is increased and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) expression reduced in patients with type 2 diabetes. Treatment with recombinant IL-1Ra improves glycemia and β-cell function and reduces inflammatory markers in patients with type 2 diabetes. Here we investigated the durability of these responses. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Among 70 ambulatory patients who had type 2 diabetes, A1C >7.5%, and BMI >27 kg/m² and were randomly assigned to receive 13 weeks of anakinra, a recombinant human IL-1Ra, or placebo, 67 completed treatment and were included in this double-blind 39-week follow-up study. Primary outcome was change in β-cell function after anakinra withdrawal. Analysis was done by intention to treat. RESULTS: Thirty-nine weeks after anakinra withdrawal, the proinsulin-to-insulin (PI/I) ratio but not stimulated C-peptide remained improved (by -0.07 [95% CI -0.14 to -0.02], P = 0.011) compared with values in placebo-treated patients. Interestingly, a subgroup characterized by genetically determined low baseline IL-1Ra serum levels maintained the improved stimulated C-peptide obtained by 13 weeks of IL-1Ra treatment. Reductions in C-reactive protein (-3.2 mg/l [-6.2 to -1.1], P = 0.014) and in IL-6 (-1.4 ng/l [-2.6 to -0.3], P = 0.036) were maintained until the end of study. CONCLUSIONS: IL-1 blockade with anakinra induces improvement of the PI/I ratio and markers of systemic inflammation lasting 39 weeks after treatment withdrawal.

Metabolic activation of the innate immune system governed by interleukin (IL)-1β contributes to β-cell failure in type 2 diabetes. Gevokizumab is a novel, human-engineered monoclonal anti-IL-1β antibody. We evaluated the safety and biological activity of gevokizumab in patients with type 2 diabetes. In a placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study, a total of 98 patients were randomly assigned to placebo (17 subjects) or gevokizumab (81 subjects) at increasing doses and dosing schedules. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the safety profile of gevokizumab in type 2 diabetes. The secondary objectives were to assess pharmacokinetics for different dose levels, routes of administration, and regimens and to assess biological activity. The study drug was well tolerated with no serious adverse events. There was one hypoglycemic event whereupon concomitant insulin treatment had to be reduced. Clearance of gevokizumab was consistent with that for a human IgG(2), with a half-life of 22 days. In the combined intermediate-dose group (single doses of 0.03 and 0.1 mg/kg), the mean placebo-corrected decrease in glycated hemoglobin was 0.11, 0.44, and 0.85% after 1, 2 (P = 0.017), and 3 (P = 0.049) months, respectively, along with enhanced C-peptide secretion, increased insulin sensitivity, and a reduction in C-reactive protein and spontaneous and inducible cytokines. This novel IL-1β-neutralizing antibody improved glycemia, possibly via restored insulin production and action, and reduced inflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes. This therapeutic agent may be able to be used on a once-every-month or longer schedule.

IAPP, a hormone secreted together with insulin and deposited in pancreatic islets in type 2 diabetes, can induce macrophage processing of interleukin 1 linked to beta-cell destruction in type 2 diabetes.

Background Diabetes is common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Interleukin (IL)-6 is implicated in both the pathogenesis of RA and in glucose homeostasis; this post hoc analysis investigated the effects of IL-6 receptor vs. tumour necrosis factor inhibition on glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in patients with RA with or without diabetes. Methods Data were from two placebo-controlled phase III studies of subcutaneous sarilumab 150/200 mg q2w + methotrexate or conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) and a phase III monotherapy study of sarilumab 200 mg q2w vs. adalimumab 40 mg q2w. Patients with diabetes were identified by medical history or use of antidiabetic medication (patients with HbA1c ≥ 9% were excluded from all three studies). HbA1c was measured at baseline and weeks 12/24. Safety and efficacy were assessed in RA patients with or without diabetes. Results Patients with diabetes ( n  = 184) were older, weighed more and exhibited higher RA disease activity than patients without diabetes ( n  = 1928). Regardless of diabetes status, in patients on background csDMARDs, least squares (LS) mean difference (95% CI) in change from baseline in HbA1c for sarilumab 150 mg/200 mg vs. placebo at week 24 was − 0.28 (− 0.40, − 0.16; nominal p  <  0.0001) and − 0.42 (− 0.54, − 0.31; nominal p  <  0.0001), respectively. Without csDMARDs, LS mean difference for sarilumab 200 mg vs. adalimumab 40 mg at week 24 was − 0.13 (− 0.22, − 0.04; nominal p  = 0.0043). Greater reduction in HbA1c than placebo or adalimumab was observed at week 24 with sarilumab in patients with diabetes and/or baseline HbA1c ≥ 7%. There was no correlation between baseline/change from baseline in HbA1c and baseline/change from baseline in C-reactive protein, 28-joint Disease Activity Score, or haemoglobin, nor between HbA1c change from baseline and baseline glucocorticoid use. Medical history of diabetes or use of diabetes treatments had limited impact on safety and efficacy of sarilumab and was consistent with overall phase III findings in patients with RA. Conclusions In post hoc analyses, sarilumab was associated with a greater reduction in HbA1c than csDMARDs or adalimumab, independent of sarilumab anti-inflammatory effects. Prospective studies are required to further assess these preliminary findings. Trial registration ClinTrials.gov NCT01061736: date of registration February 03, 2010; ClinTrials.gov NCT01709578: date of registration October 18, 2012; ClinTrials.gov NCT02332590: date of registration January 07, 2015.