New Type 1 Diabetes Treatment Reduces Need for Insulin Injections

Patients might only need to inject once or twice a week…. 

University of Cambridge scientists have found a new immunological treatment that slows damage to the pancreas, preserving its ability to produce insulin without the use of diabetes medications.

Frank Waldron-Lynch of the University of Cambridge says, "Our aim is to rebalance the immune system so that patients can significantly reduce the number of insulin injections needed to just once or twice a week by slowing the progression of the disease." Type 1 diabetes affects around 400,000 people in the United Kingdom.

The treatment targets the interleukin-2 (IL-2) pathway which controls part of the immune system. The new drug, aldesleukin, aims to increase levels of IL-2 as low levels are what result in an impaired immune system, leading to damage to the pancreas. Researchers hope that by boosting the immune system through administration of the immunologic injections, the body will sustain its production of insulin, reducing the need for insulin injections.

Aldesleukin would be most beneficial in newly diagnosed patients but could also be used in patients within two years of diagnosis with significant results. Reducing the number of insulin injections that a patient must take per day can improve patient compliance, and ensure that patients are receiving adequate treatment.

Shubber Kadhim. Type 1 diabetes could reduce need for insulin injections. 11 June 2013. https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-06/11/type-1-diabetes-treatment.