Broad Promise For New Therapy
A new "reverse vaccine" therapy shows promise for fighting Type 1 diabetes, and may open the door for a variety of treatments designed to treat medical conditions by impeding the body's immune response, instead of strengthening it as is done in typical immunizations.
Variety of new therapies possible
In Type 1 diabetes, parts of the immune system attack cells that manufacture insulin. Reverse vaccines fight this by shutting down these parts of the immune system. Stanford University researchers, looking for a method for treating diabetes while keeping pancreatic cells alive, have come upon an approach that turns immunology on its head.
Big Step In Diabetes Research
Juvenile diabetes affects millions of people per year, and the ability to reduce the destruction of insulin producing cells means that diabetes management, including the injection of insulin, could be forever changed.
Another critical component of the reverse vaccine for diabetes is that the rest of the immune system is not damaged by the action of the vaccine. This prevents other issues, including infections, from derailing the treatment. The vaccine works by using a small piece of DNA (an engineered plasmid) that expresses proinsulin. The increase in the amount of insulin producing cells, combined with the reduction of insulin cell destroyers, represents a new avenue in the long sought cure for Type 1 diabetes. Other treatments involve broad suppression of the immune system, and can create hazards for patients. The reverse vaccine may also be useful among a variety of autoimmune diseases, and therefore could become a standard course of treatment in the near future, unless it turns people into vampire zombies like in that Will Smith remake of the Charleton Heston remake of the Vincent Price take on the Richard Matheson Book.