Is a once a month injection against diabetes II around the corner?
According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Zurich and the Zurich University Hospital the answer is: Yes. They demonstrated that one injection per month sufficed to improve blood sugar levels significantly. Even more: The insulin production of the patients improved.
The preliminary results of a follow-up study conducted by the researcher of the University of Zurich and the Zurich University Hospital confirm the promising results of a new therapy introduced in April 2007. “The initial results were much better than expected“, leading scientist Professor Marc Donath said on 8 September 2008 at an international diabetes congress in Rome, where he was the first Swiss to receive the Novartis Prize in Diabetes.
In April 2007, a research team of the University of Zurich and the Zurich University Hospital reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that a molecule called interleukin-1 beta was found to be associated with the failure to produce insulin in diabetes type 2. Two follow-up studies led by Professor Marc Donath were conducted in the USA and in Europe where a total of 40 male and female diabetes type 2 patients received a newly developed interleukin-1-receptor.
One injection per month sufficed to improve blood sugar levels significantly. “Even more spectacular: insulin production of the patients improved as well“, Donath adds. The fact that even after three months a 50 percent improvement of the insulin production was recorded corroborates one of the major findings addressed in the 2007 study: the new therapy may help stop and even retard the progress of the disease. This is very unlike the currently available therapies which do not influence the course of the disease. Since the once a month injection was not found to have significant side effects, further studies are planned prior to the introduction of the therapy.
Award for Professor Donath
At the congress in Rome, Professor Marc Donath was the first Swiss scientist to receive the Novartis Prize in Diabetes. The award, which carries $25.000, recognizes outstanding individuals who have dedicated themselves to improving of the lives of people with diabetes. The recipients are selected by an independent panel of internationally renowned diabetes researchers.
Image courtesy of Jan Roger Johannesen
16.09.2008
