The primary goal of the study is to assess the safety of the treatment, but researchers will also be looking at its effectiveness, including whether any protective effect continues after the injections have stopped.
Professor Peakman said laboratory and animal model research had produced promising results, and early studies in patients showed some potentially important immune and metabolic changes.
Jack Meaning, aged 29, an economist, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in October 2014. He was on a trial of an earlier, simpler version of the immunotherapy, MonoPepT1De, which has now been completed, although the results have yet to be published.
Protective response:
All the volunteers will receive six injections, four weeks apart.
In healthy people the immune system has a complex system of checks and balances to enable it to destroy harmful pathogens - but not healthy tissue. Part of the regulation is done by T regulatory cells, which suppress the immune response from attacking the body.
The injections contain peptides - small fragments of protein molecules found in the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas.
It is hoped these will prompt T regulatory cells in the immune system to mount a protective response to the beta cells, so re-training the immune system.
The hormone insulin is used to control blood sugar levels.
Diabetes:
There are two main types of diabetes -
- Type 1 - where the pancreas does not produce any insulin
- Type 2 - where the pancreas does not produce enough insulin - or the body's cells do not react to insulin
Around 10% of all diabetes is type 1, but it is the most common type of childhood diabetes, so it is sometimes called juvenile diabetes or early-onset diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, the body either fails to produce enough insulin to function properly, or the body's cells do not react to insulin. Around 90% of adults with diabetes have type 2, and it tends to develop later in life than type 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment