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Researchers from Pritzker Molecular Engineering, under the guidance of Prof. Jeffrey Hubbell, demonstrated that their compound can eliminate the autoimmune response linked to multiple sclerosis. Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) have developed a novel vaccine that, in laboratory tests, can completely reverse autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and Crohn’s disease — all without shutting down the rest of the immune system. A typical vaccine teaches the human immune system to recognize a virus or bacteria as an enemy that should be attacked. The new “inverse vaccine” does just the opposite:...

Treating newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients with semaglutide (trade names Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus) may drastically reduce or even eliminate their need for injected insulin. Those are the remarkable findings of a small study. "Our findings from this admittedly small study are, nevertheless, so promising for newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients that we are now absolutely focused on pursuing a larger study for a longer period of time," says Paresh Dandona, MD, Ph.D. A total of 10 patients were studied, all of whom had been diagnosed in the past three to six months with type 1 diabetes. The...

Benefits of the blood pressure medication verapamil include delayed disease progression, lowered insulin requirements, and preservation of some beta cell function. Use of the drug verapamil to treat Type 1 diabetes continues to show benefits lasting at least two years, researchers report in the journal Nature Communications. Patients taking the oral blood pressure medication not only required less daily insulin two years after first diagnosis of the disease, but also showed evidence of surprising immunomodulatory benefits. Continuing medication was necessary. In the two-year study, subjects who stopped daily doses of verapamil at one year saw their disease at two years...

An implant which secretes insulin could one day replace the constant need for injections for people with diabetes. An international team of scientists says the device, created using human stem cells, could help countless patients keep their blood sugar levels in check. People with type 1 diabetes do not produce enough insulin, a hormone which helps the body convert sugar (or glucose) into energy. They therefore have to take insulin injections on a regular basis – often between two and four times a day, to regulate their blood sugar levels. Now, scientists have developed cells that produce insulin for more...

For most of us, the immune system works to protect us from bacteria, viruses, and other harmful pathogens. But for people with autoimmune conditions, the body's white blood cells instead perceive other cells and tissues in the body to be a threat and attacks them. While some immune disorders, like allergies, can sometimes be treated, autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) remain incurable. Our research has shown that you can stop the immune system attacking the nerves – which is what happens in MS. We did this by giving the immune system ever-increasing doses of the same molecule that...

The damaged immune systems of diabetics can be ‘retrained’ to stop them destroying insulin, scientists believe, following successful trials of a pioneering new therapy. Researchers at King’s College London and Cardiff University showed that injecting patients with tiny protein fragments prevented immune cells from targeting vital insulin. Type 1 diabetes develops when a patient's immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. Without treatment the number of beta cells will slowly decrease and the body will no longer be able to maintain normal blood sugar (blood glucose) levels, leading to patients needing daily injections. But a...

Researchers have announced that FDA-approved artemisinins, used for decades to treat malaria, offer a completely new therapy for type 1 diabetes. It promises to be a simple and elegant strategy to heal diabetes type 1: Replacing the destroyed beta-cells in the bodies of patients with newly-produced insulin-secreting cells. For years, researchers around the world tried various approaches with stem- or adult cells in order to induce this transformation. Their effort lead to a fundamental understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of beta cells – however, a compound capable of doing the trick was missing

In a new clinical trial to observe a new method of injecting islet cells into a patient with Type 1 diabetes, doctors from the University of Miami’s Diabetes Research Institute have confirmed that their first trial patient no longer needs insulin therapy. Wendy Peacock, their first patient, has been giving herself insulin injections and following a strict daily schedule to take care of her diabetes since she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 17. Now 43, Peacock has undergone the surgery in this new trial and no longer needs injections because her body is producing insulin naturally. Since the...

The Chiricahua Community Health Center’s mobile clinic has been a boon for the region in recent years since it’s designed to treat rural and low income areas like those found in Cochise County. The clincs are empowered by grants from the national Children’s Health Fund, which made possible the story that NBC News will tell the world this week about Buena rising sophomore Efrain Gonzalez II. The mobile clinic treats Gonzalez for Type 1 Diabetes, which allows him to backpaddle into pass coverage just like any other defender in one of the Colts’ last football practices of the school year.

I know this is a loaded and extremely controversial topic but there’s been a big break in the diabetes world. I thought it needed to be shared because no matter how you feel, it’s a big deal! ViaCyte Inc. has been given FDA approval to begin clinical trials on beta cell encapsulation. You may be wondering why this is a big deal. You see, in Type 1 diabetes the body’s own immune system attacks beta cells found in the pancreas. These beta cells produce insulin and the attack makes them unable to do that. Because the body can no longer...

A drug that was used to treat a skin disorder has shown signs of being able to treat aspects of type 1 diabetes. A small trial on US patients suggests that alefacept helps the body produce its own insulin, which is key for people with type 1 diabetes.

The same protein tells beta cells in the pancreas to stop making insulin and then to self-destruct as diabetes worsens, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) study published online today in the journal Nature Medicine. Specifically, the research revealed that a protein called TXNIP controls the ability of beta cells to make insulin, the hormone that regulates blood-sugar levels. "We spent years confirming that TXNIP drives beta-cell death in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes," said Anath Shalev, M.D., director of the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center and senior author of the paper. "We were astounded to...

The California Supreme Court has ruled that public schools can give insulin injections to students without bringing in nurses. Prior to the ruling, some schools in the state required that shots only be given by licensed professionals, but the skewed nurse-to-student ratio was hampering children’s ability to get routine care. Parents with diabetic children sued for relaxed standards, and in the higher court, they won. LA Times: Laura Mecoy, mother of two teenagers with diabetes and a Los Angeles board member of a diabetes foundation, said the ruling “delivered a wonderful back-to-school present to our children.”“As a working parent, I...

Over a median of 3.5 years, the devices worked better at controlling blood sugar, researchers say Devices called insulin pumps may work better at controlling blood sugar in children with type 1 diabetes than insulin injections, a new study finds. They might also cause fewer complications, the Australian researchers said. "This is the largest study of insulin-pump use in children," wrote a team led by Dr. Elizabeth Davis of the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth. "It also has the longest follow-up period of any study of insulin-pump therapy in children. Our data confirm that insulin-pump therapy provides an...

Researchers have come closer to the “Holy Grail” of treatment for people with type 1 diabetes. They have successfully transplanted insulin-producing islet cells from one species into another without the use of immunity-suppressing drugs. In the future this could provide an unlimited supply of tissue to treat people whose bodies cannot produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that delivers glucose - a form of sugar that the body uses for fuel - to cells for energy. Since the immune systems of people with type 1 diabetes attack and destroy the islet cells that produce insulin, many...

Children predisposed to type 1 diabetes are better off waiting until 4 months of age to consume solid foods Infants at risk of type 1 diabetes who receive their first solid foods between ages 4 months and 6 months appear less likely to develop the condition than others given solid food before or after that time window, a new study finds. Type 1 diabetes, which can strike children at any age, occurs when an aberrant immune reaction kills cells in the pancreas, requiring a person to take insulin shots. Two studies in 2003 found an association between early first foods...

A clinical trial for a Type 1 diabetes vaccine has resulted in promising findings, suggesting there may be a future where we can prevent people from getting the disease. Researchers completed a 12-week trial on a DNA-based vaccine on 80 subjects with Type 1 diabetes. The patients were able to maintain levels of a blood-borne intermediary that can stimulate insulin production, and some subjects were able to increase levels. That suggests the cellular changes that occur in patients with Type 1 diabetes may be shut down.  "We're very excited by these results, which suggest that the immunologist's dream of shutting...

Doctors are reporting a major step toward an “artificial pancreas,” a device that would constantly monitor blood sugar in people with diabetes and automatically supply insulin as needed. A key component of such a system—an insulin pump programmed to shut down if blood sugar dips too low while people are sleeping—worked as intended in a three-month study of 247 patients. This “smart pump,” made by Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc., is already sold in Europe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing it now. Whether it also can be programmed to mimic a real pancreas and constantly adjust insulin based...

Melbourne researchers have identified an immune protein that has the potential to stop or reverse the development of type 1 diabetes in its early stages, before insulin-producing cells have been destroyed. The discovery has wider repercussions, as the protein is responsible for protecting the body against excessive immune responses, and could be used to treat, or even prevent, other immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Professor Len Harrison, Dr Esther Bandala-Sanchez and Dr Yuxia Zhang led the research team from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute's Molecular Medicine division that identified the immune protein CD52 as responsible...

Researchers have made a significant first step with newly engineered biomaterials for cell transplantation that could help lead to a possible cure for Type 1 diabetes, which affects about 3 million Americans. Georgia Tech engineers and Emory University clinicians have successfully engrafted insulin-producing cells into a diabetic mouse model, reversing diabetic symptoms in the animal in as little as 10 days. The research team engineered a biomaterial to protect the cluster of insulin-producing cells -- donor pancreatic islets -- during injection. The material also contains proteins to foster blood vessel formation that allow the cells to successfully graft, survive and...