A new therapy reverses onset Type 1 diabetes; the method could be effective in humans.
Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in adolescents. Patients with the condition do no produce enough insulin, causing blood glucose levels to rise, a University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center news release reported.
Symptoms Type 1 diabetes include: "frequent urination, excessive thirst and weight loss even though you are eating more," the news release reported.
There is currently no cure for type 1 diabetes, but it can be treated with insulin therapy.
Over the past century Type 1 diabetes has been on the rise, possible due to "under-stimulation of innate immune systems," the news release reported. The condition causes the body's T-cells to attack insulin-producing beta cells.
Past research has shown that non-obese diabetic mice have defects in their innate immune cells. The receptor TLR4 helps prevent diabetes 1.
The researchers used an agonistic monoclonal antibody, dubbed UT18, to boost the activity of TLR4 and reverse onset diabetes in mouse models.
"We have shown that by using an antibody to stimulate a specific molecule in the innate immune system we can reverse-with a high rate of success-new onset diabetes in mice that have already developed the symptoms of diabetes," study leader William Ridgway, MD, said in the news release.
"The cause of this reversal is a preservation of the endocrine pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. These cells are preserved from the autoimmune attack which is the hallmark of Type 1 diabetes."
The method could be effective in humans if administered early enough.
"We are targeting a different part of the immune system," Ridgway said. "There are two arms of the immune system. One is called the adaptive immune system and the other is the innate immune system. Basically the T-cells and B-cells are in your adaptive immune system and they respond to many different antigens. The innate system tends to have a stereotypical response. We are targeting a receptor that is found mostly on the innate immune cells, such as dendritic cells.
"This same molecular TLR4 pathway operates in humans in many similar ways; though there are some differences, it is possible this new pathway of targeting the immune system could be tested in humans," he said.
