UK researchers make breakthrough in immune system therapy

JDRF funded researchers at King’s College London and the University of Bristol have shown that a potential immune system therapy for type 1 diabetes is safe. Peptide immunotherapy is a type of treatment that uses small proteins to ‘reset’ the immune system to a healthy state, much like an allergy jab.

‘Proinsulin peptide’ is a fragment of insulin. This is an experimental treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Its goal is to train the immune system to tolerate the insulin-producing beta cells that are the target of the immune response that causes type 1 diabetes.

The aim of this study was to show that the therapy is safe for use in people with type 1diabetes. The people with the condition were given three doses of the peptide. None of these people had an acute allergic reaction or experienced any adverse immune responses, such as the activation of potentially damaging T cells.

Allergic reactions or the activation of T cells are major risks associated with this type of therapy.

Because no one in the trial experienced these effects, it is safe for the scientists to extend their research further. The next step will be to test proinsulin peptide with people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. JDRF will support these studies.

Such a trial will establish whether this therapy is safe in newly diagnosed patients. Once this is established, further studies will focus on the full impact of the treatment on type 1 diabetes. If successful, this research could lead to a totally new way of treating people with type 1 diabetes.

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