A revolutionary combination treatment that has been tested in a preclinical trial significantly increases the number of insulin-producing cells, offering hope of reversing diabetes for the hundreds of millions of people affected by the disease.
The treatment for diabetes was tested in a preclinical study – Photo Archive
Scientists at Mount Sinai and City of Hope Medical Centers in the US developed a drug treatment that was able to increase insulin-producing cells – known as beta cells – by 700% over three months in mice, reversing actually the disease, reports Euronews.
“This study shows that it is the first time that a treatment, a combination treatment, has been shown to increase human insulin-producing cells in vivo“, said Dr. Adolfo Garcia-Ocaña, corresponding author of the study, according to the quoted source.
“This research brings hope for the use of future regenerative therapies to potentially treat the hundreds of millions of people living with diabetes“, he added.
Specifically, globally there are 422 million people with diabetes, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), published in June of this year.
How beta cells work
Beta cells in the pancreas produce insulin, which is essential for regulating blood sugar levels. In people with diabetes, the number and function of these cells are reduced, making the disease irreversible without their regeneration. Type 1 diabetes is managed by regular insulin injections, and type 2 diabetes by specialist drugs.
Previous studies have focused on growing beta cells in the lab and transplanting them into mice or into implanted devices in humans. Recently, a preclinical study was able to successfully grow insulin-producing cells directly into the body of diabetic mice, restoring beta cell function. The findings were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Revolution in the treatment of diabetes
The new combination treatment uses harmine, a natural compound from certain plants, alongside GLP1 receptor agonists, a class of drugs such as Ozempic, commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes.
In the study, a small number of human beta cells were implanted into mice without an immune system, serving as a standard model for studying type 1 and type 2 diabetes, Garcia-Ocaña explained.
“The combination therapy treated these mice, and their diabetes was rapidly reversed.”he added.
Phase 1 clinical trials of the treatment are underway at Mount Sinai in New York to evaluate harmina’s safety in humans. The research team hopes that these studies will bring scientists closer to developing a new way to treat diabetes.
“Looking ahead, if we can safely expand endogenous beta cells in diabetes, this will be a significant advance in the treatment of the diseaseGarcia-Ocaña said.
