TB Vaccine Against Type 1 Diabetes?

Filed in archive Developments , Research , Treatment on April 4, 2008

Harvard researchers is testing a already known tuberculosis (TB) vaccine against type 1 diabetes.





According to Denise L. Faustman, a Harvard Medical School professor who is helping to lead the study:

"Most trials trying to reverse the disease are for new-onset diabetes. This is one of the first trials actually trying to manipulate the immune system in someone who has a long-standing disease.

We are using a generic drug that has been around for 80 years and has an impeccable safety profile."

The said vaccine is causing low-grade inflammation, thereby preventing abnormal immune cells from destroying cells that produce insulin in the pancreas - which according to scientistss, might be a cure for type 1 diabetes.

Find more details from The Harvard Crimson.