Research

Beating diabetes

Published 23 June 2010

Groundbreaking research may lead to treatments that encourage diabetics to produce their own life-saving insulin.

A study team including scientists in Brighton believe the breakthrough could have a major impact on a disease which affects 285 million people worldwide and costs Britain’s NHS alone over £9 billion.

It was discovered in samples taken from people who died from the disease and the researchers believe it could lead to treatments aimed at preventing the development or progression of diabetes in newly-diagnosed patients.

Professor Adrian Bone, from the University of Brighton, said the samples showed that, contrary to popular belief, the body fights back when diabetes strikes by replicating insulin-making islet cells in the patient's own pancreas.

The Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology said this potentially could lead to a therapy that would allow sufferers to produce their own insulin to treat Type 1 diabetes, the most severe and potentially fatal variety of the disease.

Professor Bone and colleagues, Professor Noel Morgan at the Peninsula Medical School (Universities of Plymouth and Exeter) and Dr Alan Foulis at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, said the breakthrough challenged the belief that the islets simply lose their functions and die.

Professor Bone said: "Our observations suggest the cells don't just passively succumb but rather try to mount a defence in order to delay the onset of the symptoms of diabetes. This response takes the form of a marked increase in the rate of islet cell replication following the attack on the pancreas by Type 1 diabetes patients' own immune system."

The samples from patients who died, retrieved with patients' and their families' consents, were collected by Dr Alan Foulis in Glasgow.

Professor Bone said the team's work on the specimens was continuing. He said: "We are now trying to understand what signals trigger the Type 1 diabetes patients' pancreas to try and regenerate as the disease develops.

"This increased understanding could lead to the exciting possibility of helping newly-diagnosed patients to replace their own islet cells and delay the need for insulin treatment."

Professor Bone said: "In the UK alone there are almost three million people whose lives are affected by diabetes, costing 10 per cent of the entire NHS budget.

"The development of a therapy is still some way in the future but we do believe that we have opened up an exciting new avenue for research into the possible prevention and treatment of diabetes."

The research is funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.