Latest Type 1 Diabetes Clinical Trials – A Breakthrough is Expected
Healthful Vitality | 09/27/2021 | BY NP Contributor | Latest Type 1 Diabetes Clinical Trials
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a severe autoimmune disorder, a condition when the immune system wrongly starts attacking parts of the body. In this case, it starts attacking insulin-producing beta-cells in the pancreas.
It is a condition that is often diagnosed at a young age. It accounts for about 10% of all cases of diabetes. Its onset is relatively acute. By the time it is diagnosed, most of the beta cells have been destroyed. Thus, there is a severe insulin deficiency in the body. Therefore, insulin therapy remains its prime treatment.
There are two possible ways of curing the condition. The first is to prevent further damage to the beta-cells. Secondly, try to regrow beta cells so that they can meet insulin demand. There are numerous ways in which researchers are trying to achieve this.
Type 1 Diabetes Clinical Trials Researchers Are Exploring:
1. A vaccine to modulate immunity
Since beta cells in T1D are destroyed by autoimmunity, even boosting their growth will not work as immunity will keep killing them. It means that one needs to alter the faulty immune response. Researchers identified that some vaccines not targeted at T1D, like the rotavirus vaccine, helped reduce T1D. These findings confirmed that vaccines remain a good way of preventing and managing this disease. At present, researchers are developing a vaccine to prevent and cure the condition.
2. Immunotherapy
Researchers have long been experimenting with various medications to alter the immune response and thus cure T1D. There have already been more than 10 clinical studies that demonstrated encouraging results but were not as effective as expected. Therefore, researchers are experimenting with monoclonal antibodies to alter immunity and cure the disease. [1]
Related Article: Immunotherapy Weds Artificial Intelligence
3. Islet cell transplant
This therapy is already available for clinical use, and it is offered to people living with severe T1D and failing to control blood glucose with insulin therapy. It is minimally invasive as islet cell transplantation is done by infusing these cells into the pancreas. It may cause diabetes remission for 5 or more years. However, it does not result in a cure due to graft failure.
4. Stem cell therapy
This therapy is in its early stages. It may help in multiple ways. Researchers hope to find stem cells that can alter immune responses and thus cure the disease. Additionally, they plan to use stem cells to regrow islet cells, and such cells will have minimal chances of being rejected by the body.
5. Gene therapy
Gene therapy is another therapy that is still in its early stages of development. Nonetheless, there are real chances that it will succeed in the near future, as gene therapy is already available for some rare diseases. Gene therapy can be targeted [2] towards immune modulation. Or one may use gene therapy to stimulate the growth of beta cells in the pancreas. Researchers generally use viruses as carriers for transplanting new genes in certain parts of the body.
Summary
To conclude, T1D is a complex disorder requiring a daily prick of insulin to manage the condition. Artificial pancreas or closed-loop systems are already available that automatically inject insulin when and as needed. However, using devices to manage T1D can barely be called a cure. Fortunately, many novel approaches are being tested, and breakthrough is expected in coming years.
(Related Article: Latest Research on Diabetes Type 2 Cure)
Reference
- Type 1 diabetes immunotherapy using polyclonal regulatory T cells. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/scitranslmed.aad4134
- Gene therapy and type 1 diabetes mellitus. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332218345001