New treatment for Type 1 diabetes

UT Southwestern researchers studying new treatment for Type 1 diabetes

A possible new treatment for Type 1 diabetes is being studied now at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, with what researchers hope will result in a major step forward in the management of a disease that affects the daily lives and lifelong health of millions of people.

UT Southwestern physicians leading the study said today that they have been able to control levels of blood glucose in animals using metreleptin, a synthetic version of the human hormone leptin.

If the same result can be achieved in humans, it could have an enormous impact on how Type 1 diabetes is controlled, with the hope that it could reduce the number of daily insulin injections diabetics must now endure, researchers said today during a news conference at Dallas City Hall.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disorder that must be controlled with insulin injections because the disease destroys the body’s ability to produce the substance.

Type 1 diabetes differs significantly from Type 2 diabetes, which is often caused by obesity and can sometimes be controlled through changes in lifestyle.

Dr. Roger Unger, chairman of diabetes research at UT Southwestern, called the findings about metreleptin a huge development in the study of the disease but was cautious about where they might lead.

“This is of course a trial, and we are eager to get more volunteers, provided everyone understands there is no guarantee it is going to work. But our fingers are crossed, and amazing results in animals give us hope it will also be of value to humans,” he said.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/122210dnmetdiabetesstudy.38b07e66.html

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