The News:
London-based researchers have begun work on a drug therapy that could greatly impede the autoimmune attack at the heart of T1D.
What This Means for the T1D Community:
I have yet to be this excited about the NAME of a possible therapy for T1D. Get ready, because this potential medication is called: MultiPepT1De! Get it? See the T1D in the otherwise unassuming “multipeptide”?? These are clever researchers indeed!
Prof. Mark Peakman and Dr. Mike Shaw at King’s College are more than just clever with names. They’ve determined just which peptides (protein chains) create the autoimmune response that leads to the attack on beta cells. By injecting fragments of these peptides, researchers hope to “switch off” the mistaken part of the immune system thereby leaving beta cells intact.
According to an article in Health Canal: “The autoimmune response in Type 1 diabetes targets specific peptides in the β-cells that make insulin, leading to inflammation, loss of β-cells and complete insulin deficiency. By introducing selected fragments of key proteins from β-cells in a form that switches off inflammation, it is hoped this will ‘re-set’ the immune system.”
While immunosuppressant medications can be hard to take with their suppression of the entire immune system, peptide-specific immuno-therapy promises to be more selective and therefore easier on the system.
This research is so promising, in fact, that the team has just received a “Translation Grant” from the Wellcome Trust to the tune of 2.3 million pounds, which means that smart people believe this approach is worthy of serious backing.
This therapy would be especially well suited to people just after diagnosis or for those at risk of developing the disease. Combined with amazing advancements, though, in beta cell proliferation and transplantation and reprogramming, this suppression of the autoimmune attack holds real promise for everyone living with the disease.
While this news is early–clinical trials are slated to being in 2014–it’s very exciting.
If You Want to Read More:
Breakthrough T1D Countdown Article
Diabetes Research Network
