Type I diabetes - a new idea for prevention

[Guest guest]

I found the following article online and it really struck me. I've been doing my own study of Type I diabetes from the standpoint of a curious person, NOT a clinical researcher, and I found one common thread: SOMETHING HAPPENS in the way of a long course of medication, vaccinations, or illness, 3-6 months before the Type I diabetes shows up in a young person.

 

NOW, with this latest data, I think I know why - it's this IGRP protein! This is where the weakness sits! So it seems to me if we could know when a child is BORN that they have this, it might dramatically change the way we medicate or vaccinate that child until he or she is in their 20's and hopefully past the critical stage of developing this horrible affliction!

 

Anyway, I think this is well worth knowing for those of us who are interested in helping diabetics, both I and II. Article follows my signature.

Linda

 

Researchers Find Clue to Cause of Type 1 Diabetes Last Updated: 2003-06-17 14:50:41 -0400 (Reuters Health)By Martin F. DownsNEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a new study, scientists found a proteinthat appears to play a key part in the development of Type 1, orearly-onset diabetes.The finding may lead to new diabetes treatments, and it may be useful indiagnosing the disease, said study author Dr. Teresa DiLorenzo, aresearcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in the Bronx, NewYork.Type 1 diabetes is typically diagnosed in children or young adults, andrequires life-long insulin injections for survival. The disease is muchless common than Type 2 diabetes, which is often diagnosed in olderpeople and can be linked to lifestyle and diet.In Type 1 diabetes, the immune system's T cells destroy insulin-producingbeta cells in the pancreas. T cells react to a molecular "red flag," orantigen, which tells them they should attack a cell that has the antigen.Scientists don't know which specific antigens prompt T cells to attackbeta cells in people, but this study offers a compelling clue.In the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences, DiLorenzo and colleagues report that T cells in diabetes-pronemice, known as NOD mice, target a protein called IGRP."There certainly is reason to believe that if IGRP is the antigen in theNOD mice, it may also be an antigen in humans," DiLorenzo told ReutersHealth.It's standard practice for researchers to study Type 1 diabetes in thiskind of mouse. What they find in these mice, they often find in humanslater, DiLorenzo said.To identify the protein, the researchers began by breaking down betacells from the test mice into various molecular components, until theyhad separated out the peptides -- molecules that are building blocks ofproteins. They found peptides that T cells recognized, and then screened themagainst a database of known protein sequences to find out which proteinthey came from. "When that was done, there was an exact hit with this protein calledIGRP," DiLorenzo said.The researchers also found that T cells in the blood and pancreatictissue of test mice reacted to IGRP. What's more, the gene for IGRP is found at a site in the human genomethat other researchers have identified as one that may make people proneto Type 1 diabetes. "It's long been clear that there's a genetic component to Type 1diabetes," DiLorenzo said. "Several groups for many years have beensearching for the genes responsible for that susceptibility."People with a close relative who has Type 1 diabetes have a greater riskfor developing the disease. So far, researchers have found 18 sites inthe genome that may play a role, DiLorenzo said."These are, in general, huge chunks of DNA. It's not a single gene," shesaid. "We have more work to do to find out whether IGRP is indeed one ofthe responsible genes contributing to susceptibility."She said it's an "intriguing" coincidence that IGRP corresponds to a sitesuspected in diabetes susceptibility. But it is too early to draw anyconclusions beyond what the study shows -- that T cells target the IGRPprotein in mice. The next step will be to find out if the same is true in humans."This is generating a fair amount of excitement in the field, so we'renot going to be alone in these human studies," DiLorenzo said. "We shouldknow, hopefully within the next year, whether this is a relevant targetin humans."If it is, researchers could try to develop treatments for Type 1 diabetesbased on IGRP. Doctors could also identify people at risk for the diseasebased on whether their T cells react to IGRP."If you could identify at-risk individuals you could potentially come upwith earlier diagnoses," DiLorenzo said.SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences2003;10.1073/pnas.0932778100.

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