Local study to test drug against diabetes
Medication used for psoriasis will be administered to those recently diagnosed
Researchers in Vancouver are seeking people newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes to test whether drugs that alter our immune systems can also halt the progress of the disease.
During a year-long trial, 20 young adults who have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes within the last 100 days will be given an immune-modulating medication called ustekinumab, which is sold under the brand name Stelara. Participants will receive either three or five injections of Stelara, currently approved for the treatment of psoriasis in Canada.
Dr. Tom Elliott is an endocrinologist and medical director of BC Diabetes, a private clinic that specializes in helping patients manage the chronic illness, which is conducting the pilot study.
Although BC Diabetes is the only lab testing Stelara on Type 1 diabetes, it’s a line of research that has developed during the past decade along with advancements in immunotherapy drugs. These medications are used to treat chronic inflammatory illnesses including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, but some scientists believe they hold potential for other illnesses caused when the body’s immune system starts attacking itself.
Type 1 diabetes — also known as juvenile diabetes because it can develop in children — is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system kills specialized cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. That causes dangerously high levels of blood sugar that can lead to kidney damage, blindness and amputated limbs if left uncontrolled. Type 1 diabetes affects about one per cent of Canadians.
“The immune system is generally our friend,” Elliott explained. “It’s killing off invading bacteria, viruses, cancer cells. It’s very, very effective. So, to mess with the immune system is a delicate process.
“(In diabetes) there’s something that starts a cascade of immune destruction that we don’t understand. This drug picks off a couple of points in the cascade that look very promising.”
Previous U.S.-based studies on related immune-regulating drugs and Type 1 diabetes have found little evidence that they work, but also few dangerous side-effects. Experts have cautioned against research on young subjects with still-developing immune systems, although this is also a group in which diabetes is on the rise around the world.
It differs from the much more common Type 2 diabetes, which typically occurs around middle age, or older, in people who are overweight and inactive.
The Canadian Diabetes Association estimates that more than 400,000 people in B.C. had diabetes in 2013, including 31,000 with Type 1 diabetes.
The research is sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for an undisclosed amount. Dave Prowten, president of JDRF Canada, said the research will explore a “novel approach” to treating people who have recently been diagnosed.
“This trial is extremely important since it will help us understand how patients respond to a therapy that alters the immune system, and could create new treatment approaches,” he said.
Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 34. For more information, contact Dr. Marla Inducil at 604-875-4634 or minducil@bcdiabetes.ca.