Differential white cell count and incident type 2 diabetes: the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study

Aims/hypothesis

White cell count has been shown to predict incident type 2 diabetes, but differential white cell count has received scant attention. We examined the risk of developing diabetes associated with differential white cell count and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio and the effect of insulin sensitivity and subclinical inflammation on white cell associations.

Methods

Incident diabetes was ascertained in 866 participants aged 40–69 years in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study after a 5 year follow-up period. The insulin sensitivity index (S_I) was measured by the frequently sampled IVGTT.

Results

C-reactive protein was directly and independently associated with neutrophil (p?<?0.001) and monocyte counts (p?<?0.01) and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (p?<?0.001), whereas S_I was inversely and independently related to lymphocyte count (p?<?0.05). There were 138 (15.9%) incident cases of diabetes. Demographically adjusted ORs for incident diabetes, comparing the top and bottom tertiles of white cell (1.80 [95% CI 1.10, 2.92]), neutrophil (1.67 [1.04, 2.71]) and lymphocyte counts (2.30 [1.41, 3.76]), were statistically significant. No association was demonstrated for monocyte count (1.18 [0.73, 1.90]) or neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (0.89 [0.55, 1.45]). White cell and neutrophil associations were no longer significant after further adjusting for family history of diabetes, fasting glucose and smoking, but the OR comparing the top and bottom tertiles of lymphocyte count remained significant (1.96 [1.13, 3.37]). This last relationship was better explained by S_I rather than C-reactive protein.

Conclusions/interpretation

A lymphocyte association with incident diabetes, which was the strongest association among the major white cell types, was partially explained by insulin sensitivity rather than subclinical inflammation.     

Chronic ulcerative stomatitis: A comprehensive review and proposal for diagnostic criteria

Chronic ulcerative stomatitis (CUS) is an immune‐mediated disorder characterized by oral erosions and ulcers usually refractory to conventional treatments. The disease often involves middle‐aged and older women with painful lesions sometimes resembling those of erosive oral lichen planus (OLP). The most affected sites are the buccal mucosa, the gingiva and the tongue, but the skin is involved in 22.5% of cases. Histopathologic features in CUS are non‐specific and indistinguishable from those of OLP, with the exception of the presence of a mixed infiltrate composed of lymphocytes and plasma cells. Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) analysis reveals the presence of stratified epithelium‐specific antinuclear antibodies (SES‐ANA) in the lower third of the epithelium. The IgG antibodies detected on DIF are directed against the ?Np63α isoform of p63 expressed in the nuclei of the epithelial basal cells. A distinguishing feature of CUS is the low response to conventional corticosteroid therapy and the good outcome with hydroxychloroquine at the dosage of 200 mg/day or higher dosages. This paper presents a comprehensive review of CUS and is accompanied by a new case report (the 73rd case) and a proposal for updated diagnostic criteria.