On the occasion of a congress of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), a team of researchers from the Massachussets General Hospital (United States) led by Dr. Denise Faustman, announced the launch of a phase II study to test the efficacy of the BCG vaccine in the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
In a trial in mice and in a phase I trial in 103 humans, BCG (used for vaccination against tuberculosis) has already succeeded in improving type 1 diabetes. This new trial will last 5 years and will test the efficacy of the vaccine in type 1 diabetics aged 18 to 60 years. According to Dr. Faustman, around 1 million people with insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes still produce insulin. These are the people the vaccine is aimed at because it may be able to cure the disease in people with low levels of insulin coming from their pancreas.
US researchers have shown that the vaccine can eliminate problematic white blood cells that lead to type 1 diabetes by destroying beta cells that produce and release insulin in the blood.
The researchers provided proof in phase I with a protocol of two BCG injections spaced 4 weeks apart. But since insulin production was only restored transiently and moderately, the researchers strengthened the protocol for phase II with an additional injection that will take place within 5 years of the study.
“Our goal in this phase 2 is to create a lasting therapeutic response,” says Dr. Faustman.
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