A new treatment for type 1 diabetes may be in the offing, after results of a preliminary study suggests that an experimental treatment is both safe and effective.
Research has shown that GAD (glutamic acid decarboxylase) acts as an autoantigen in people with type 1 diabetes, and is part of the immune system attack on insulin-secreting cells. The hope was that injections of GAD-alum would stop GAD from destroying the insulin-producing cells.
Results of the study of 70 adolescents with type 1 diabetes showed that injections of GAD-alum did help to preserve the insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas. However, the treatment only worked in participants who had been diagnosed within the last six months. The treatment is not a cure, the participants still needed their regular insulin shots, and their insulin secretion still declined throughout the two-and-a-half-year study period, however the decline was not as great in those treated with GAD-alum.
Ludvigsson J,Faresjö M, Hjorth M, Axelsson S, Chéramy M,Pihl M, Vaarala O, Forsander G, Ivarsson S, Johansson C, Lindh A, Nilsson NO, Ã…man J, Örtqvist E, Zerhouni P, Casas R. GAD Treatment and Insulin Secretion in Recent-Onset Type 1 Diabetes. NEJM. Published online October 8, 2008. DOI:10.1056/NEJMoa0804328
