New Hope for Young Diabetics

A drug already on the market for autoimmune disorders could help children and young adults with diabetes control their disease.

Children and young adults newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes face a chronic disease with life-altering impacts.

But now a study by a University at Buffalo pediatric endocrinologist has found that a drug used to treat other autoimmune conditions can preserve the insulin-making capabilities of these patients.

Protective effect induced

Led by Teresa Quattrin, UB Distinguished Professor in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the research represents the culmination of decades of work toward finding ways to prevent the total breakdown of insulin production.

“Patients newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes don’t stop making insulin all of a sudden,” explains Quattrin. Aiming to extend the so-called “honeymoon phase” in which insulin is still being produced, the researchers studied the effect of golimumab, a drug currently approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions.

They found golimumab reduced the amount of injected insulin required by protecting pancreatic beta cells for at least a year after diagnosis.

The clinical trial was conducted at 27 centers throughout the U.S. Starting within 100 days from diagnosis, patients between the ages of 6 and 21 received either golimumab or a placebo. Nearly 43% of those who received golimumab were determined to be in partial diabetes remission, compared to only 7% of those receiving placebo.

A game-changer for young patients

While both groups of patients in the study achieved good blood sugar control, those receiving golimumab did so with less injected insulin, which Quattrin describes as a critical benefit.

Additionally, a post-trial analysis showed that those younger than 18 years had 36% fewer episodes of level 2 hypoglycemia, a serious low blood sugar reaction. Such episodes require immediate attention—left untreated, they can be fatal—and often disrupt learning, recreation and social activities, compromising quality of life.

“Type 1 diabetes really turns the life of a child and the whole family upside down,” says Quattrin, noting that the study results provide “a message of hope.”