A Reboot for the Immune System
Autoimmune diseases comprise some of the most persistent and debilitating diseases known: rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and others. Though they are all unique, they have a common underlying cause: a malfunctioning immune system. Through still not-entirely-understood mechanisms, healthy immune cells patrol the body and know when to protect and when to attack. In these autoimmune diseases, for reasons unknown, specific body cells are no longer identified by the immune system as "allies" and become "the enemy." In the case of type 1 diabetes, a number of immune cells go awry and begin to destroy pancreatic beta cells, the site of insulin production, which is a necessary component in the body's regulation of blood glucose levels.
Immunosuppressant drugs exist, but they are very general and attack the entire immune system, leaving the patient susceptible to all sorts of infections, meaning a more-targeted drug is needed. Jeffrey Bluestone, the current director of the Immune Tolerance Network and the Diabetes Center at the University of California at San Francisco, has spent the last 30 years developing a new drug derived from an organ-transplant medication that can be used in the prevention the progression of type 1 diabetes. He and his research partner, endocrinologist Kevan Herold, aren't 100% sure how the drug, known as an "anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody," works, but they know it selectively binds to the surface of malfunctioning T cells and inhibits their attack on the pancreas while increasing the number of healthy T cells. The drug and others like it have shown extreme promise in human trials, halting beta cell destruction and sometimes even resulting in increased insulin production. It's hoped that this anti-CD3 drug will be FDA-approved and available in as little as two years. When it becomes available, it will be the very first type 1 diabetes medication that actually targets the cause of the disease.
This article grabbed my interest because a best friend of mine has type 1 diabetes, and I've seen what a pain it is to always have to check your blood sugar and to give yourself insulin. He has to take his pump everywhere he goes and a couple weeks ago he got a massive infection in his thigh where he gave himself a shot. This is promising not just for my friend but for people with all sorts of autoimmune diseases, which have been viewed as chronic and incurable for a long, long time, but may not be for much longer.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-02/rebooting-body
Immunosuppressant drugs exist, but they are very general and attack the entire immune system, leaving the patient susceptible to all sorts of infections, meaning a more-targeted drug is needed. Jeffrey Bluestone, the current director of the Immune Tolerance Network and the Diabetes Center at the University of California at San Francisco, has spent the last 30 years developing a new drug derived from an organ-transplant medication that can be used in the prevention the progression of type 1 diabetes. He and his research partner, endocrinologist Kevan Herold, aren't 100% sure how the drug, known as an "anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody," works, but they know it selectively binds to the surface of malfunctioning T cells and inhibits their attack on the pancreas while increasing the number of healthy T cells. The drug and others like it have shown extreme promise in human trials, halting beta cell destruction and sometimes even resulting in increased insulin production. It's hoped that this anti-CD3 drug will be FDA-approved and available in as little as two years. When it becomes available, it will be the very first type 1 diabetes medication that actually targets the cause of the disease.
This article grabbed my interest because a best friend of mine has type 1 diabetes, and I've seen what a pain it is to always have to check your blood sugar and to give yourself insulin. He has to take his pump everywhere he goes and a couple weeks ago he got a massive infection in his thigh where he gave himself a shot. This is promising not just for my friend but for people with all sorts of autoimmune diseases, which have been viewed as chronic and incurable for a long, long time, but may not be for much longer.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-02/rebooting-body
posted by Robert Smith, Starfleet Engineering at 10:23 AM
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