Researchers have found that a type of medicine which is used to treat a skin disease can be suggested to people with type 1 diabetes.
According to the study, carried out by researchers from Indiana University and other research centers in the United States, Psoriasis drug has proved to treat aspects of type 1 diabetes.
Published in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, the study analyzed 49 people aged 12 to 35 years of age.
All participated people had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the past 100 days and had the auto-antibodies which are associated with the condition.
The study reveals that the medicine known as ˜Alefacept™ is helpful for both diseases that appear due to disorders in autoimmune conditions.
The immune system of people with type 1 diabetes attacks the insulin producing cells in their pancreas.
While Alefacept protects the immune system, the drug helps the body produce its own insulin, which is key for people who are suffering from type 1 diabetes.
The drug prevents the actions of a specific set of immune system cells called T-cells, which in type 1 diabetes, are in charge of attacking the insulin producing cells.
“Although the primary endpoint was not met, several key secondary endpoints were significantly different between treatment groups, suggesting that Alefacept might preserve pancreas cell function during the first 12 months after diagnosis,” said the study leader Prof Mark Rigby, of Indiana University.
“The results of this study appear worthy of further exploration. Small steps forward such as this take us closer to a world without type 1 diabetes,” researchers claim.
The research was funded by the US National Institutes of Health and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
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