Filtering by
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
AAbs provide value in identifying individuals at risk, stratifying patients with different clinical courses, improving our understanding of autoimmune destructions, identifying antigens for cellular immune response and providing candidates for prevention trials in T1D. A two-stage serological AAb screening against 6,000 human proteins was performed. A dual specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase 2 (DYRK2) was validated with 36% sensitivity at 98% specificity by an orthogonal immunoassay. This is the first systematic screening for novel AAbs against large number of human proteins by protein arrays in T1D. A more comprehensive search for novel AAbs was performed using a knowledge-based approach by ELISA and a screening-based approach against 10,000 human proteins by NAPPA. Six AAbs were identified and validated with sensitivities ranged from 16% to 27% at 95% specificity. These two studies enriched the T1D “autoantigenome” and provided insights into T1D pathophysiology in an unprecedented breadth and width.
The rapid rise of T1D incidence suggests the potential involvement of environmental factors including viral infections. Sero-reactivity to 646 viral antigens was assessed in new-onset T1D patients. Antibody positive rate of EBV was significantly higher in cases than controls that suggested a potential role of EBV in T1D development. A high density-NAPPA platform was demonstrated with high reproducibility and sensitivity in profiling anti-viral antibodies.
This dissertation shows the power of a protein-array based immunoproteomics approach to characterize humoral immunoprofile against human and viral proteomes. The identification of novel T1D-specific AAbs and T1D-associated viruses will help to connect the nodes in T1D etiology and provide better understanding of T1D pathophysiology.
A literature review was conducted on T1D and the state-of-the-art in diabetes technology. To better understand self-management behaviors and guide the development of iDECIDE, several data sources were collected and analyzed: surveys, insulin pump paired with glucose monitoring, and self-tracking of exercise and alcohol. The analysis showed variability in compensation techniques for exercise and alcohol and that patients made unaided decisions, suggesting a need for better decision support.
The iDECIDE algorithm can make insulin and carbohydrate recommendations. Since there were no existing in-silico methods for assessing bolus calculators, like iDECIDE, I proposed a novel methodology to retrospectively compare insulin pump bolus calculators. Application of the methodology shows that iDECIDE outperformed the Medtronic insulin pump bolus calculator and could have improved glucose control.
This work makes contributions to diabetes technology researchers, clinicians and patients. The iDECIDE app provides patients easy access to a decision support tool that can improve glucose control. The study of behaviors from diabetes technology and self-report patient data can inform clinicians and the design of future technologies and bedside tools that integrate patient’s behaviors and perceptions. The comparison methodology provides a means for clinical informatics researchers to identify and retrospectively test promising insulin blousing algorithms using real-life data.
The study used a multi-phase, multi-method approach. The first phase (alpha) of this study was a qualitative descriptive design to examine the intervention’s fidelity. Evaluation of performance was conducted by experts in the fields of MI, T1D, adolescence and/or online education. The second phase (beta) was a quantitative descriptive design conducted in order to evaluate feasibility by examining the acceptability (recruitment, retention and satisfaction) and implementation (diabetes self-management self-efficacy) to determine whether the intervention was appropriate for further testing.
First phase findings showed that the intervention passed all measures with the content experts (n = 6): it was functional, accurate, usable and secure. Improvements to the intervention were made based on reviewer recommendations. For the second phase 5 adolescents between 14 and 17 were enrolled. Three adolescents completed all 4 weeks of the intervention while 2 completed only 3 weeks. Participants (n = 3) rated satisfaction on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from “not at all” satisfied (1) to “very much” satisfied (5). There was a positive response to the intervention (M = 4.28, SD = 0.55). Implementation was measured by a pre- and post-test for diabetes self-management self-efficacy. Participants (n = 3) demonstrated overall improvements in diabetes self-management self-efficacy (Z = -2.952, p = .007).
Implications for further Can-Do-Tude research are planned at a metropolitan diabetes center using updated technology including an application platform. Although the sample was small, findings indicate that the intervention can be conducted using a web-based format and there is initial evidence of improvement in self-efficacy for diabetes self-management.
In completing this thesis project, I attempted to hypothesize the trigger in my own personal diagnosis of type 1 diabetes through literature research as well as further research on viruses and their contribution to autoimmune disorders. I had previously hypothesized that, based on my own family life, type 1 diabetes could possibly be a non-heritable disease despite its consistent inheritance pattern discovered by researchers; however, the research presented in this thesis project rejects this idea and supports the theory that I may have been previously susceptible to this disorder and would have developed type 1 diabetes naturally. There were multiple viruses discovered during the literature research conducted that could possibly have been triggers in the acceleration of my disease. The major link between enteroviruses and autoimmune disorders was discovered, as well as influenza A and SARS-COV-2 and this is explained further in this project.
Type 1 diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the pancreas produces little to no insulin due to the cells being destroyed by a person’s own body. A potential treatment for this disorder is the allogeneic transplantation of pancreatic beta cells. Unfortunately, this potential solution requires the use of immunosuppressants. For my project with the Weaver Lab, I will be assessing pseudoislet survival in macroencapsulation via injection molding. I will be analyzing survival and metabolic assays of the pseudoislets in the mold process. Pseudoislets in hydrogels usually undergo hypoxia-included cell death due to the diffusion distances oxygen has to travel. We will test the impact of macroencapsulation device geometry on hypoxia within encapsulated cells. I will be culturing pancreatic cells and encapsulating them in hydrogels. Macroencapsulation devices will be utilized to shield islets from the immune system and eliminate the need for immunosuppressants. In order to analyze the cells’ structure and to ensure their viability, confocal microscopy will be used. Staining for live cells will be done using calcein AM which produces green fluorescence and indicates live cells. Staining for dead cells on the other hand will be done using an ethidium homodimer which produces red fluorescence and indicates dead cells. To determine if the cells are metabolically active the Alamar Blue assay will be used.