If you've been relying on using daily insulin injections, there is a possible new treatment option for diabetes patients.
A drug which was previously investigated for treating patients with lymphomas and multiple myeloma, has now been found to also be capable of reactivating the genes responsible for regulating insulin expression.
This advancement has led to the ability to reprogram pancreatic stem cell-like cells into insulin producing beta cells for potential diabetes treatment.
So today we will discuss
1. Background
2. Types of diabetes
3. Restoring insulin production(drug)
4. Further remarks
5. Limitations
Background
According to the WHO, there are 422 million people with diabetes globally and this figure will reach 700 million by 2045. In the United States, diabetes in the nations seventh leading cause of death
Types
1. Type 1 (formerly known as insulin dependant or juvenile diabetes) - the body does not produce the hormone insulin or makes very little of it. This form is more common in children and young adults
2. Type 2 (formerly know as adult onset diabetes) - the body does not produce enough insulin or cannot properly use insulin. It is the most common form of diabetes (90-95% of all cases) and often begins later in life.
Insulin producing beta cells typically make up 50-70% of pancreatic islets (group of cells in the pancreas). In both types of diabetes, there is a significant reduction in beta cells primarily due to autoimmune destruction.
Individuals with type 1 diabetes and some with type 2 Diabetes must take insulin injections daily to survive. The alternative is whole pancreas or pancreatic islet transplantation which is limited by the shortage of organ donors and the associated side effects of immunosuppresants.
Restoring insulin production
A study which was conducted at in Melbourne, Australia found that the investigational drug GSK-126 can potentially restore insulin producing beta cells in type 1 diabetes patients by inhibiting pancreatic EZH2.
The EZH2 enzyme inhibits genes responsible for the development of insulin producing beta cells. The researches hypothesised that blocking EZH2 activity may restore insulin production.
The researchers found that stimulating the pancreatic cells with GSK-126 could restore the hallmark genes responsible for developing pancreatic progenitor cells (stem cell-like cells) intro insulin producing beta cells.
GSK-126 also restored expression of the insulin gene in the cells taken from the type 1 diabetes donor despite absolute beta cell destruction.
Further Remarks
Professors in epigenetic have described this method of Restoring insulin production as rapid and cost effective.
This potential diabetes treatment also has another advantage in that it is less vulnerable to the risks associated with organ or islet transplantation.
Limitations
This study only used a single type 1 diabetes fonorm additional studies are required to detemine if the approach is successful in a broader type 1 diabetes population.
Autoimmune attacks on insulin producing beta cells can also present future challenges.
We can expect this drug to be available in the market in approximately 7-10 years.
Reference: Medical News Today
