Breakthrough in Type 1 diabetes research

A CANADIAN-LED research team has uncovered the trigger for Type 1 diabetes, a “breakthrough” that allowed them to cure the disease in mice and could ease the suffering of millions worldwide.

“This discovery, a breakthrough that has long been the elusive goal of diabetes research, has led to new treatment strategies for diabetes,” the scientists said in a statement Friday.

The findings by researchers at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, the University of Calgary and the Jackson Laboratory in Maine were published in the December 15 issue of the journal Cell.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that affects millions of people worldwide, about 10% of all diabetes cases.

It arises when certain cells responsible for insulin production become inflamed and are ultimately destroyed, making it impossible for the body to produce insulin.

Insulin deficiency is fatal and current insulin replacement therapies cannot prevent many side effects such as heart attacks, blindness and strokes.

Most studies on Type 1 diabetes had focused on the immune system, but the Canadian-led team found a link between the disease and the nervous system.

The group discovered that abnormal nerve endings in insulin-producing pancreas islet cells sparked a chain of events that caused Type 1 diabetes in mice. When they removed the sensory neurons the mice did not develop the disorder.

The treatment is now being tested for Type 2 or obesity-related diabetes, in which insulin resistance is even more severe, with “strong evidence” it will work, the researchers said.