a major advance in therapies without insulin injection

[EN VIDÉO] Venom to treat diabetes, obesity and allergies In the south of Belgium, a research team is working on a somewhat unusual subject. By using venom taken from wild animals, scientists hope to develop treatments against diabetes, allergies or obesity. The Euronews channel tells us more during this episode of Futuris.

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The diabetes type 1 is an autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of insulin-producing β cells
It is composed of two peptide chains (A and B, respectively of 21 and 30 amino acids) linked together by two disulphide bridges at the level of cystein residues.
Fonction de…” data-image=”https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/8/4/5/84536550b6_50034167_insuline-nasa.jpg” data-url=”https://www.futura-sciences.com/sante/definitions/medecine-insuline-173/” data-more=”Lire la suite”>insulin in the pancreas. Patients with this type of diabetes must then inject insulin daily, or benefit from a transplantation : either the whole pancreas, or the islets of Langerhans where the β cells are found. Although the therapy proves effective, its widespread use is limited by the shortage of organ donors, as well as the side effects of associated immunosuppressive drugs.

Research then focused on the hypothesis of the Thermoplastic polymers almost all exhibit significant plasticity.
Indeed, when a given constraint is applied to…” data-url=”https://www.futura-sciences.com/sciences/definitions/physics-plasticity-2092/” data-more=”Read next”>plasticity pancreatic cells, the starting point of new study published in the magazine Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. Researchers at Monash University (Australia) used the stem cells from the pancreas of a type 1 diabetic donor, in order to differentiate them into insulin-producing β cells.

To do this, they exposed these pancreatic progenitor cells to a very selective inhibitor called GSK126, which induced the expression of the embarrassed responsible for the activation of β cells despite their destruction in diabetic patients. However, the so-called single covalent bond…” data-image=”https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/d/0/e/d0e3dc7e1e_76472_molecule.jpg” data-url=” https://www.futura-sciences.com/sciences/definitions/chimie-molecule-783/” data-more=”Read more”>molecule is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in treatment anticancerbut not yet for diabetes.

Replace destroyed cells to produce insulin again

Professor Assam El-Osta, from the Department of Diabetes at Monash University and co-author of the study, valued that the experiences of his team address unmet medical needs in type 1 diabetes “. By replacing the insulin-producing cells destroyed in type 1 diabetics with new cells, the study shows that the diabetic pancreas is not incapable of expressinginsulin.

Advances in the genetics of diabetes have made it possible to a better understanding and, at the same time, renewed interest in the development of therapies potential added the professor. In addition, this new therapy has the double advantage of reducing dependence on insulin injections and avoiding the heaviness and complications associated with surgery of graft.

However, the study has limitations since it is an isolated case of a donor, presenting lesions of the characteristic islets of Langerhans and significant destruction of β cells. Thus, it is not known whether the results will be generalized, especially since the molecule has only been evaluatedin vitro.

« Further work is needed to define the properties of these cells and establish protocols to isolate and develop them, said Dr. Al-Hasani, co-author of the study. “I think therapy is still a long way off. However, it represents an important step on the way to designing a sustainable treatment that could be applicable to all types of diabetes. »