Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and kills the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Patients with type 1 diabetes are dependent on externally administered insulin to survive. Now, a new study brings them a ray of hope.
Researchers at St Vincent’s Medical Research Institute (SVI) in Melbourne have shown that a regularly prescribed rheumatoid arthritis and alopecia drug can suppress the progression of type 1 diabetes.
The results of the study, published in New England Journal of Medicine – NEJM and quotes from Healthlineshows that a drug called Baricitinib, also marketed as Olumiant, can safely and effectively preserve the body’s own insulin production and suppress the progression of type 1 diabetes in people who start treatment soon after diagnosis.
What Baricitinib does is block an enzyme that normally helps transmit signals that regulate the immune system and inflammation.
The drug is believed to reduce the immune response against insulin-producing cells in people with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, thereby delaying the onset of full-blown symptoms, improving glucose control and reducing the potential for long-term adverse health effects.
“When type 1 diabetes is first diagnosed, there are a substantial number of insulin-producing cells still present.
We wanted to see if we could protect against further destruction of these cells by the immune system. We have shown that baricitinib is safe and effective in slowing the progression of type 1 diabetes in people who have recently been diagnosed,” said Professor Thomas Kay from St Vincent’s Medical Research Institute (SVI) in Australia.
“We are the first group in the world to test the effectiveness of baricitinib as a potential treatment for type 1 diabetes,” said Professor Kay.
Currently, people with type 1 diabetes depend on insulin given by injection or infusion pump.
This study showed that if it was started early enough after diagnosis and as long as participants remained on treatment, insulin production was maintained.
People with type 1 diabetes in the study who were given the drug by mouth needed much less insulin for treatment.
Lifelong management of autoimmune disease is incredibly burdensome for those diagnosed and their families, requiring meticulous blood glucose monitoring and day-and-night insulin administration to stay alive.
Until the discovery of insulin over 100 years ago, type 1 diabetes was a fatal condition.
Despite the lifesaving role of insulin, the therapy itself is potentially dangerous if too much or too little is given.
The condition also comes with long-term complications, including heart attack and stroke (stroke), vision impairment, kidney disease and nerve damage.
“We are very optimistic that this treatment will become available at the clinical level. It would represent a huge change in the way type 1 diabetes is managed and we think it holds promise as a fundamental improvement in the ability to control type 1 diabetes,” said Professor Helen Thomas, who led the trials.
2023-12-07 22:02:00
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