The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), Melbourne, Australia, has announced successful demonstration of proof of principle for a nasal spray vaccine to prevent type 1 diabetes. The research, conducted by scientists from WEHI and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, showed that the nasal spray suppress the body’s immune response against insulin in humans.
Because type 1 diabetes results from an immune system attack on cells that produce insulin, researchers think that desensitizing the immune system to insulin could prevent the disease.
The study involved 52 patients with early stage type 1 diabetes. Lead researcher Professor Len Harrison of WEHI said, “The results showed that the vaccine allowed the immune system to restore immune tolerance to insulin; When subsequently given insulin by injection, the participants who had received the nasal insulin vaccine were found to be desensitised to insulin.”
“The nasal vaccine approach, if shown to be successful in human type 1 diabetes, could also be tested with different vaccines for the prevention of other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis,” said Professor Harrison.
Read the WEHI press release.
