Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Scientists at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research (SVI) in Melbourne have made an exciting breakthrough, revealing that a commonly prescribed rheumatoid arthritis drug can reduce the progression of type 1 diabetes.
The world-first human trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and led by SVI’s Professor Thomas Kay, demonstrated that a drug called baricitinib can safely and effectively protect the body’s own insulin production and reduce the development of type 1 diabetes in individuals diagnosed within the last 100 days.
“When type 1 diabetes is first diagnosed there is a significant number of insulin-producing cells still present. We wanted to see whether we could protect more of these cells from damage by the immune system. We showed that baricitinib is safe and effective at slowing the progression of type 1 diabetes in recently diagnosed individuals,” said Professor Kay.
This groundbreaking research study shows promise as the first disease-modifying treatment of its kind for type 1 diabetes that can be administered as a tablet. “It is incredibly exciting for us to be the first group across the world to test the effectiveness of baricitinib as a potential type 1 diabetes treatment,” said Professor Kay.
“Up until now, people with type 1 diabetes have been dependent on insulin provided via injection or infusion pump. Our trial showed that, if started early enough after diagnosis, and while the individuals remained on the medication, their production of insulin was preserved. Individuals with type 1 diabetes in the trial who were given the drug needed significantly less insulin for treatment.”
Without the treatment, the immune cells attack and eliminate the insulin-producing cells. Credit: St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research
Management of the long-term autoimmune disease is incredibly challenging on those diagnosed and their families, requiring careful glucose monitoring and insulin administration day and night to survive.
Up until insulin’s discovery more than 100 years ago, type 1 diabetes was a deadly condition. Despite insulin’s life-saving role, the treatment itself is potentially dangerous if too much or too little is administered, and the condition still involves long-term complications, including heart disease and stroke, vision impairment, kidney disease, and nerve damage.
“We are very confident that this treatment will become clinically available. This would be a huge step-change in how type 1 diabetes is managed and we believe it shows promise as a general improvement in the ability to control type 1 diabetes,” said Professor Helen Thomas, preclinical lead on the trial.
The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human trial of the drug baricitinib monitored the blood sugar and insulin production of 91 individuals over one year. Of these, 60 were given baricitinib and 31 were given a placebo. All trial participants were aged between 10 years old and 30 years-old and started on the trial within 100 days of having been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. » …
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