Tolerogenic dendritic cells for Type 1 diabetes

Evaluation of: Pujol-Autonell I, Ampudia RM, Monge P et al. Immunotherapy with tolerogenic dendritic cells alone or in combination with rapamycin does not reverse diabetes in NOD mice. ISRN Endocrinol. doi:10.1155/2013/346987 (2013) (Epub ahead of print). Many reports confirm that dendritic cells (DCs) can prevent autoimmune diseases in mice and rats including Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Reversal of new-onset Type 1 diabetes mellitus using DCs has not yet been reported in the literature. The findings of Pujol-Autonell and colleagues suggest that reversal using DCs may not be possible, at least in the NOD/LtJ mouse strain. At first sight, these data suggest that DC-based therapies may not be effective in treating new-onset disease in humans. This evaluation provides a potential explanation for why the approach of Pujol-Autonell was not successful and offer alternatives that may result in a successful outcome. Based on this analysis, the importance of quality control testing DCs to ensure that their tolerogenic character is stable in vitro and in vivo is highlighted.