Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Can Help Treat Type 2 Diabetes

A drug designed to treat juvenile rheumatoid arthritis may also be helpful for managing type 2 diabetes, new research suggests. The study found that daily injections of anakinra led to a drop in long-term levels of glucose in the blood, while they increased in people given a placebo.

"We (showed) that a 13-week treatment with anakinra improves glucose regulation and insulin production in people with type 2 diabetes," said one of the study’s authors, Dr. Marc Donath, an attending physician and a professor of endocrinology and diabetes at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, or it doesn’t use insulin effectively. Sometimes, beta cells — insulin-producing cells — in the pancreas are destroyed in type 2 diabetes as they are in type 1 diabetes. Through previous research, Donath and his colleagues learned that a substance called interleukin-1 beta was a factor in the demise of these cells in people with type 2 diabetes.

The drug anakinra is an interleukin-1-receptor antagonist, which means it can block the action of interleukin-1 beta.
To assess whether or not this could have an effect on people with type 2 diabetes, the researchers randomly assigned 36 people to receive a once-daily placebo injection and 34 people to receive once-daily injections of 100 milligrams of anakinra for 13 weeks.

After 13 weeks, the glycated hemoglobin levels were 0.46 percent lower in the group that received anakinra. "Our study is proof of concept for a mechanism underlying the disease and (may possibly) block its progression," said Donath, who added, "Interleukin-1 beta may be involved in other complications of the disease, such as arteriosclerosis. Therefore, this therapy may also prevent cardiovascular events. However, this remains to be shown."

"This study points to inflammation as definitely having a role in the (diabetes) story," said Dr. Stuart Weiss, an endocrinologist at New York University Medical Center, and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine.

Additionally, Weiss pointed out that it appeared the drug was more effective in thinner people. "The authors don’t really discuss this, but it’s an interesting finding — it’s not what we’d expect."

The study is published in the April 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

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