DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia — screening already-approved drugs against its 1-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleIdiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia maps to a 1-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for idiopathic cd4 lymphocytopenia is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
unc-119 lipid binding chaperone (UNC119) — UNC119 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet gnpdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 4GOJ · 2.1 Å · ligand PHOSPHOAMINOPHOSPHONIC ACID-GUANYLATE ESTER (GNP). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Idiopathic CD4+ lymphocytopenia is defined by a CD4+ count below 300 cells per cubic millimetre on two occasions with no HIV infection or other known immunodeficiency. A 1993 investigation of 47 patients in the United States found 29 male and 18 female patients, mean age 43. Nineteen patients (40 percent) had AIDS-defining illnesses, 25 (53 percent) had non-AIDS-defining conditions, and 3 (6 percent) were asymptomatic. Eighteen patients (38 percent) had risk factors for HIV infection including haemophilia, homosexual sex, blood transfusion, or at-risk heterosexual partners; 29 (62 percent) had no identified risk factors. Testing of 10 sex partners, 3 household contacts, 4 children of patients, and 6 blood donors found them immunologically and clinically normal. The investigation concluded the disorder is rare and represents various clinical and immunologic states, with no evidence of a new transmissible agent.
A 1994 report described three patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, atopic dermatitis, or psoriasis whose peripheral CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia occurred during acute erythroderma and normalised after the erythroderma resolved. Immunoperoxidase staining suggested the peripheral CD4+ lymphocytopenia resulted from sequestration of CD4+ T lymphocytes in the skin, which can hold 10¹⁰ to 10¹¹ cells compared to roughly 10⁹ in peripheral blood. The authors proposed that acute erythroderma from any cause should be an exclusion criterion for idiopathic CD4+ T lymphocytopenia.
A 2013 case report described an eight-year-old girl with severe idiopathic CD4+ lymphocytopenia who underwent allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation using a fludarabine-based reduced intensity conditioning regimen. The authors state this was the first paediatric case treated by HSCT and that the procedure was successful, but the report provides no survival data, no long-term follow-up, and no comparison group. No other treatments are evaluated in these abstracts.
What remains missing is any controlled trial of treatment for this condition, any systematic data on long-term outcomes after HSCT, and any understanding of which patients might benefit from transplantation versus supportive care. The rarity of the disorder makes randomised trials difficult, and no funding mechanism for such trials is described. Patient stratification by severity, underlying cause, or presence of erythroderma has not been prospectively tested.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
New England Journal of Medicine · 1993 · 356 citations · open access
Unexplained Opportunistic Infections and CD4+ T-Lymphocytopenia without HIV Infection -- An Investigation of Cases in the United States
AbstractBACKGROUND: The clinical and public health importance of recent reports of patients with CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is unclear. We conducted investigations to determine the demographic, clinical, and immunologic features of patients with idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia; whether the syndrome is epidemic or transmissible; and the possible causes. METHODS: We reviewed 230,179 cases in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) AIDS Reporting System and performed interviews, medical-record reviews, and laboratory analyses of blood specimens from adults and adolescents who met the CDC case definition of idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia (< 300 CD4+ cells per cubic millimeter or a CD4+ cell count < 20 percent of total T cells on two occasions and no evidence of infection on HIV testing), their sexual contacts, household contacts, and persons who had donated blood to them. RESULTS: We interviewed 31 of the 47 patients identified with idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia and 23 of their contacts. There were 29 male and 18 female patients, with a mean age of 43 years (range, 17 to 78); 39 were white, 4 were Asian, 2 were Hispanic, and 2 were black. Eighteen patients (38 percent) had one or more risk factors for HIV infection: seven had hemophilia, six had engaged in homosexual sex, six had received blood transfusions, and two had had heterosexual sex partners who were at risk for HIV infection. The other 29 patients (62 percent) had no identified risk factors for HIV infection. Nineteen persons (40 percent) had AIDS-defining illnesses (18 had opportunistic infections), 25 (53 percent) had conditions that were not AIDS-defining, and 3 (6 percent) were asymptomatic. We tested blood from 28 patients: 8 (29 percent) were found to have CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts of less than 300 cells per cubic millimeter, and 6 had CD8+ T-lymphocytopenia (< 250 cells per cubic millimeter). Ten sex partners, three household contacts, and four children of the patients, as well as six persons who had donated blood to the patients, were immunologically and clinically normal. CONCLUSIONS: This investigation of patients with idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia and unexplained opportunistic infections indicates that the disorder is rare and represents various clinical and immunologic states. The investigation of contacts revealed no evidence of a new transmissible agent that causes lymphocytopenia.
Acute Erythroderma as an Exclusion Criterion for Idiopathic CD4+ T Lymphocytopenia
AbstractBACKGROUND: Idiopathic CD4+ T lymphocytopenia is defined as a CD4+ T lymphocytopenia of less than 0.3 x 10(9)/L that is not associated with human immunodeficiency virus, other immunodeficiency, or immunosuppressive therapy. The associated clinical course and laboratory findings are variable. We describe a subset of patients whose peripheral CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia was transient, and suggest a pathomechanism for this phenomenon. OBSERVATIONS: We describe three patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, atopic dermatitis, or psoriasis in whom acute erythroderma was concomitant with a peripheral CD4+ T lymphocytopenia that normalized after resolution of the erythroderma. Immunoperoxidase staining of skin biopsy specimens and quantitative estimation of CD4+ T lymphocytes in the cutaneous and peripheral blood compartments demonstrated that the peripheral CD4+ T lymphocytopenia in these cases most probably resulted from sequestration of CD4+ T lymphocytes in the skin. The skin of an erythrodermic patient appears capable of sequestering 10(10) to 10(11) CD4+ T lymphocytes, whereas the peripheral blood compartment contains in the range of 10(9) CD4+ T lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that CD4+ T lymphocytopenia can occur as a result of acute erythroderma of multiple causes and that acute erythroderma associated with transient CD4+ T lymphocytopenia be considered as an exclusion criterion for idiopathic peripheral blood CD4+ T lymphocytopenia.
Successful fludarabine‐based hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in a pediatric patient with idiopathic <scp>CD</scp>4+ lymphocytopenia
AbstractIdiopathic CD4+ lymphocytopenia (ICL) is a rare immunodeficiency disease with severe CD4 T-cell depletion, leading to serious opportunistic infections. The optimal treatment of ICL has not been determined, especially in severe form of the disease. Here, we report an eight-yr-old girl with ICL who was successfully treated with fludarabine-based conditioning HSCT. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first pediatric ICL case that was treated by HSCT. Allogeneic HSCT with a reduced intensity condition (RIC) regimen may be a feasible and curative treatment option in ICL patients with recurrent life-threatening complications.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
