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Study continues vaccination against type 1 diabetes for infants
At high pressure is working on a vaccine against diabetes. Scientists are currently hoping that a preventive insulin vaccine for the prevention of type 1 diabetes could be used in the future. A study involving several research institutions is entering the next round. Now, the positive effects that have been achieved so far, are also to be examined in infants.
Infants are included in the study
A study to explore ways to prevent diabetes is entering the next round. Soon there will be the vaccine against type 1 diabetes for toddlers. According to the "Informationsdienst Wissenschaft" (idw), the German vaccination study "Pre-POINT early" takes children from families with a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes between the ages of six months and two years nationwide. With the help of insulin powder, a positive immune reaction could be triggered in children between two and seven years of age in the previous study "Pre-POINT". Now, the follow-up study will test whether this effect can be confirmed with oral insulin in infants and whether type 1 diabetes can be permanently prevented.
A vaccine could make life easier for Type I diabetics. (Image: abidika / fotolia.com) Cooperation of several universities and research institutions
Several universities and research institutions are working together in the study on insulin vaccine: the Institute for Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Center Munich, the Paul Langerhans Institute at the Technical University Dresden, the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), the Technical University of Munich ( TUM) and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU). The researchers announced that the new vaccine trial will treat children aged six months to two years who have a familial and genetic risk for type 1 diabetes but have not yet developed an autoimmune process.
Insulin in the form of powder
As in the previous study on the vaccine to protect against diabetes, participants swallow insulin every day for 12 months, which they take in as food powder. The dose of 7.5 milligrams is gradually increased to 67.5 milligrams. Every three months, medical examinations are carried out to monitor the state of health. The oral insulin in the same dosage proved to be well tolerated and safe in the previous study. Hypoglycemia and other side effects such as allergies did not occur.
Insulin has a different effect when taken orally
When administered orally, insulin is absorbed through the oral and intestinal mucosa and split into smaller components during the digestive process. Because of this it has - unlike the insulin that is injected - no effect on blood sugar levels. Instead, it acts like a vaccine designed to train the immune system. "The autoimmune response that leads to childhood type 1 diabetes is often targeted first against insulin," said the director of the Institute for Diabetes Research, Anette-Gabriele Ziegler. "The goal of the 'Pre-POINT early' study is therefore to build immune tolerance to insulin and thus prevent the autoimmune process." The insulin powder to stimulate the development of protective immune cells that prevent the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells.
About 400,000 Germans with type 1 diabetes
Millions of people worldwide suffer from type 1 diabetes; in Germany alone, around 400,000 people are affected. Patients have to inject insulin regularly because their body is no longer producing this hormone. Currently, not only is research on a possible vaccine being conducted, but also in other areas. For example, scientists from the Medical University of Graz (Austria) recently reported that for the first time they were able to achieve success with a newly developed artificial pancreas, which in future would spare patients with type 1 diabetes the annoying procedure of measuring and calculating blood sugar levels and prevent incorrect insulin administration. (Ad)