Diabetes is one of those diseases that can kill a person, although many people are able to live with it thanks to medication. There seems to be no cure for the disease, but scientists from the Liston lab of the Babraham Institute might have found a way to prevent it.
Researchers have published a study on a preventative therapy for diabetes by modifying signaling pathways in pancreatic cells of mice to prevent stress-induced cell death, as ScitechDaily reveals. The therapy involves a pathway that is found in both types of diabetes, and that makes a promising treatment option with significant therapeutic potential if it’s translated into a clinical setting. They used a modified virus known as an AAV gene delivery system to deliver the therapy to beta cells, resulting in a lower rate of diabetes development. The difference is indeed significant: from 58% to 18%. The research in mice is a key first step that grants hope when it comes to possible development of treatments for human patients.
Dr. Adrian Liston, who is the senior Group Leader in the Immunology research program, explained:
A key advantage of targeting this particular pathway is the high likelihood that it works in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes,
In type 2 diabetes, while the initial problem is insulin-insensitivity in the liver, most of the severe complications arise in patients where the beta cells of the pancreas have been chronically stressed by the need to make more and more insulin. By treating early type 2 diabetes with this approach, or a similar one, we have the potential to block progression to the major adverse events in late-stage type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes can be a serious condition if not properly managed. It can lead to a variety of complications, such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and amputation of toes, feet, or legs. However, with proper management through medication, diet, and exercise, the risk of complications can be greatly reduced. It’s important for people with diabetes to closely monitor their blood sugar levels and work with a healthcare professional to create a treatment plan that is right for them.
The new study was published in MDPI.
