A study shows that a gene therapy approach can lead to long-term survival for functional beta cells, as well as normal blood glucose levels for an extended period of time in mice with type 1 diabetes.
The researchers used an adeno-associated viral vector to deliver to the mouse pancreas two proteins, which reprogrammed plentiful alpha cells into functional, insulin-producing beta cells.
Senior study author George Gittes, said: “This study is essentially the first description of a clinically translatable, simple single intervention in autoimmune diabetes that leads to normal blood sugars, and importantly with no immunosuppression.
“A clinical trial in both type 1 and type 2 diabetics in the immediate foreseeable future is quite realistic, given the impressive nature of the reversal of the diabetes, along with the feasibility in patients to do AAV gene therapy.”
