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Scientists Finally Understand How Type 1 Diabetes Works

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"diabetes"

Medical researchers have been at war with a number of diseases for decades. As much as they work on them and as many resources as are allocated to the fight against them (not that many, at least in some cases), we don’t seem to be making too much progress in regards to conditions like cancer, heart disease, or diabetes.

And speaking of diabetes, scientists aren’t even sure how the entire affair works in the first place, or at least they weren’t until today. According to a study from the University of Lincoln in the UK, scientists finally understand how type 1 diabetes works. And now that they know that, they’re hoping they can come up with a cure.

Current status of diabetes

While it had been known for some time that type 1 diabetes works by having the immune system attack four molecules in the pancreas, it was suspected that there also was a fifth molecule involved in the whole affair. This is because the four molecules about which the world of medicine knew could explain the effects of the disease on their own.

Four of the autoantigens, as the molecules are called, are primarily used to produce and to regulate insulin levels, while the fifth is insulin itself. Treated with insulin injections, type 1 diabetes prevents the body from generating the substance and stops it from reaching different areas of the body. Not taking the insulin injections can lead to serious, life-long consequences.

Research on the fifth molecule

Finally understanding exactly how the disease works, the team of scientists from the UK and Italy discovered the fifth molecule affected by the condition – tetraspanin-7. Not only will the fact that the scientists know all five molecules affect detection methods for the condition, but it might also help in developing a proper treatment other than constant insulin injections.

Each of the five targeted molecules – insulin, the Glutamate decarboxylase enzyme, the two proteins IA-2 and Zinc transporter-8, and the recently discovered tetraspanin-7 – is targeted by a different antibody. Current diabetes tests are performed by testing for the antibodies that have turned on the body, and a similar procedure was used to identify the tetraspanin-7 in the first place.

The team says that they’ve been at it for quite some time, and that they even gave up at one point. As they were considering failure, because the initial tests came out negative and because so many different groups all over the world had tried the same thing fruitlessly, the team decided to try a new approach. The new approach worked flawlessly, and here they are today, ready to bring forth a new era of diabetes treatments.

Image source: Pixabay

A Cure For Diabetes Could Be On The Way

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"insulin"

A cure for diabetes could be on the way after researchers found a way to transplant insulin-secreting cells into mice, which suppresses the condition. It’s one of the most common major conditions of our age, and yet there is no cure. The rates have gone up almost 60% in the last decade and there are millions of people affected.

In 2014, scientists found a way to produce huge quantities of pancreatic beta cells, or insulin-secreting cells, and replace the damaged cells with healthy ones. However, there was a major drawback to the technique that deemed it useless. The patient’s immune system instantly started attacking the pancreatic beta cells, which suppressed their ability to produce insulin. Patients were required to be on immuno suppressants for the rest of their lives for it to work, which could arrive with several harmful side effects and risks.

Thus, the method was not at all beneficial long term.

Protection from the immune system

However, researchers from MIT and Harvard University found a way to protect the insulin-secreting cells. They first created a library of around 800 materials, of alginate derivatives, and tested the immune’s response to each in part. Their findings uncovered that triazole-thiomorpholine dioxide (TMTD) was the most beneficial material as the immune system had a minimal reaction to it.

That made it the perfect coating for pancreatic beta cells.

6 months diabetes-free

Researchers then implanted human islet cells encapsulated in the aforementioned TMTD material in rodent subjects. The cells instantly began producing insulin, and the TMTD stopped the immune system from attacking them. This kept their blood sugar under control, and the protection lasted for the entire length of the study, which was 174 days. That means that diabetes was repressed for almost half a year.

That’s the exciting part, according to co-author of the study, Omid Veiseh. They alleviated the mice’s need for insulin injections, and they were able to do it for around 6 months. The pancreatic beta cells were allowed to freely secrete insulin while the TMTD protected it from the immune system.

Co-author of the study, Daniel Anderson claimed that this technique could provide type 1 diabetes patients with a new pancreas that is protected from the immune system. That way, the daily insulin injections would be removed without the need for immuno suppressants. It’s a major breakthrough in the field that could help thousands, if not millions, of people around the world.

The treatment has the potential of being a long-term solution for patients suffering from diabetes. It could make their lives tremendously easier, and researchers are excited to progress with their research in human trials. If it proves successful, it will open exciting possibilities for people with type 1 diabetes.

Image source: healthination.com

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