In a first, scientists have developed a treatment that can delay type 1 diabetes by two or more years among people who are at high risk.
The research, published in the New England Journal ofMedicine, involved treatment with an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (teplizumab).
Researchers from Yale University in the US enrolled 76participants ages 8-49 who were relatives of people with type 1 diabetes, hadat least two types of diabetes-related autoantibodies (proteins made by theimmune system), and abnormal glucose (sugar) tolerance.
Type 1 diabetes develops when the immune system’s T cellsmistakenly destroy the body’s own insulin-producing beta cells. Insulin isneeded to convert glucose into energy. Teplizumab targets T cells to lessen thedestruction of beta cells.
“Previous clinical research found that teplizumabeffectively slows the loss of beta cells in people with recent onset clinicaltype 1 diabetes, but the drug had never been tested in people who did not haveclinical disease,” said Kevan C Herold, of Yale University.
Faster progression of type 1 diabetes is associated with ahighly active immune system, which may explain the impact of immunesystem-modulating drugs like teplizumab.The research team also cautioned that the studyhad limitations, including the small number of participants, their lack ofethnic diversity, and that all participants were relatives of people with type1 diabetes, potentially limiting the ability to translate the study broadly.