Paquinimod prevents development of diabetes in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse

PLoS One. 2018 May 9;13(5):e0196598. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196598. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Quinoline-3-carboxamides (Q compounds) are immunomodulatory compounds that have shown efficacy both in autoimmune disease and cancer. We have in here investigated the impact of one such compound, paquinimod, on the development of diabetes in the NOD mouse model for type I diabetes (T1D). In cohorts of NOD mice treated with paquinimod between weeks 10 to 20 of age and followed up until 40 weeks of age, we observed dose-dependent reduction in incidence of disease as well as delayed onset of disease. Further, in contrast to untreated controls, the majority of NOD mice treated from 15 weeks of age did not develop diabetes at 30 weeks of age. Importantly, these mice displayed significantly less insulitis, which correlated with selectively reduced number of splenic macrophages and splenic Ly6Chi inflammatory monocytes at end point as compared to untreated controls. Collectively, these results demonstrate that paquinimod treatment can significantly inhibit progression of insulitis to T1D in the NOD mouse. We propose that the effect of paquinimod on disease progression may be related to the reduced number of these myeloid cell populations. Our finding also indicates that this compound could be a candidate for clinical development towards diabetes therapy in humans.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / pathology
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / prevention & control*
  • Female
  • Glycosuria / prevention & control
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / pharmacology
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Islets of Langerhans / drug effects
  • Islets of Langerhans / pathology
  • Macrophages / drug effects
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred NOD
  • Monocytes / drug effects
  • Myeloid Cells / drug effects
  • Quinolines / pharmacology
  • Quinolines / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Immunosuppressive Agents
  • Quinolines
  • paquinimod

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Swedish Cancer Foundation (Grant # 16 0653), Greta och Johan Kocks stiftelser and the Alfred Österlund Foundation. The funder Active Biotech AB provided support in the form of salaries for authors TL and MT. FI receives a research grant from Active Biotech AB. The specific roles of TL, MT and FI are articulated in the “author contributions” section. Apart from these contributions, Active Biotech AB did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.