C-Peptide Levels and Insulin Independence Following Autologous Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Newly Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Accumulated clinical experience indicates that there is an inverse association between beta-cell function and chronic complications of type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM)—the higher the C-peptide levels (an indirect measure of viable beta-cell function), the lower the incidence of microvascular complications of type 1 DM.¹ Since the establishment of the autoimmune etiology of type 1 DM in the late 1970s, many clinical trials analyzing the effects of different types of immune interventions demonstrated that beta-cell preservation is an achievable target in different degrees.^2,3