Study tests oral insulin to prevent type 1 diabetes
Researchers at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) have begun a clinical study of oral insulin to prevent or delay type 1 diabetes in people at risk for the disease. The Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes is one of more than 100 medical centers participating in type 1 diabetes TrialNet, a research group dedicated to the understanding, prevention and early treatment of type 1 diabetes.
In the study, diabetes researchers at the UCD’s Anschutz Medical Campus are testing whether an insulin capsule taken by mouth once a day can prevent or delay diabetes in a specific group of people at risk for type 1. In current diabetics, insulin is administered via injection or pump, whereas in this study, oral insulin will be researched for use with high-risk patients.
An earlier trial suggested that oral insulin might delay diabetes onset for about four years in some people with autoantibodies to insulin in their blood. Animal studies have also suggested that insulin taken orally may prevent diabetes. Some scientists have hypothesized that introducing insulin via the digestive tract induces tolerance, or a quieting of the immune system. Insulin taken orally has no side effects because the digestive system breaks it down quickly.
About five to 10 percent of the nearly 21 million people with diabetes have type 1, formerly known as juvenile onset diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes.
