An eight-year study has just shown that the tuberculosis vaccine (BCG) can treat advanced type 1 diabetes. BCG a vaccine used for a hundred years against tuberculosis.
The 8-year follow-up in a phase 1 trial has just demonstrated the success of vaccination against tuberculosis (BCG, for bacillus of Calmette and Guérin, names of those who developed it) in the treatment of advanced type 1 diabetes.
“This clinically confirms that it is possible to stably lower blood sugar to near normal levels using a vaccine considered safe, even in patients with long-term diabetes,” comments Prof. Denise Faustman , director of the Immunobiology Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH, Boston) and lead author of the new study, published in Npj Vaccines. “In addition to these clinical results, we now have a clear understanding of the mechanisms by which limited doses of BCG vaccines can make permanent beneficial changes to the immune system and lower blood sugar levels in type 1 diabetes,” she continues.
52 patients with advanced type 1 diabetes
BCG is a vaccine that has been used against tuberculosis for a hundred years. This vaccine does not kill tuberculosis bacilli, it only slows down their spread in the body. BCG therefore has no effect on the transmission of the disease (unlike vaccines against meningococci, pneumococci or measles, for example). Its interest is particularly linked to its ability to protect young children against severe forms of tuberculosis (miliary or meningitis).
Prof. Denise Faustman’s team publishes the results of the eight-year follow-up of 52 patients with advanced type 1 diabetes (for 19 years on average). All received two doses of the BCG vaccine one month apart. After the third year, BCG lowered the hemoglobin A1c level (reflection of long-term blood sugar levels) in diabetic subjects to levels close to normal. The cohort members maintained this state of health for the next five years. “The impact of BCG on blood sugar appears to have been determined by a new systemic mechanism and a novel mechanism for lowering blood sugar in diabetes,” note the researchers.
“No drug that can do this has ever been described”
“We show that two BCGs in patients with advanced type 1 diabetes can lower glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to near normal levels for more than 5 years. No drug that can achieve this has ever been described. apart from insulin; and intensive insulin therapy runs the risk of death from hypoglycemia. BCG, by contrast, brings about a lowering of blood sugar which is regulated and approaches normal “, explains the Doctor’s Daily Prof. Faustman.
Type 1 diabetes affects around 10% of people with diabetes. It is characterized by insufficient production of insulin and requires daily administration of the latter. The cause of type 1 diabetes is not known, and, with current knowledge, it is not preventable. Symptoms are: excessive urination (polyuria), feeling thirsty (polydipsia), constant hunger, weight loss, impaired vision, and fatigue. These symptoms can appear suddenly.
In 2014, 8.5% of the world’s adult population (18 years and over) had diabetes. In 2015, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.6 million deaths and in 2012 high blood sugar caused an additional 2.2 million deaths. In France, diabetes affects nearly 3.3 million people, or 5% of the population (Institute for Public Health Surveillance; 2015 figures).
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